


Katniss, The Vampire Slayer

by EllanaSan



Series: Katniss, The Vampire Slayer [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Slow Burn, Vampires, no knowledge of Buffy necessary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-07-13 01:06:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16007075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllanaSan/pseuds/EllanaSan
Summary: “Into each generation a slayer is born.” Haymitch mocked. “One girl in  all the world. Ain’t I just lucky it had to be you.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!!!
> 
> So here is my new big project! This will be a series of short stories (a few chapters each) based on a Buff the Vampire Slayer au. I though the whole thing like a TV show season of sort so there is a main plot but there are also side plots/monster of the week episodes. I’m sure this au had probably been explored before (though I haven’t read any of them) but I want to stress this isn’t a copy/paste of the Buffy TV show, I only borrowed the rules of that universe and adapted them to a Hunger Games AU. 
> 
> **No knowledge of Buffy is necessary** – I tried to explain every concept as I went along the story and my beta isn’t versed in Buffy so hopefully if anything is confusing we will catch it and explain it.
> 
> As for ships – because I know you that’s what you’re interested in – I would rather avoid a “Into that good night” debacle so let me say it clearly here: there will be Everlark and there will be hayffie as well as a touch of Katniss/Gale. All pretty much canon-like. Every “episode” in the series won’t deal with each ship and character equally – which means there will be episodes leaning heavily toward everlark and others more hayffie oriented. You’re warned ;) 
> 
> For the more hayffie interested people (which is everyone who reads me usually) Effie does not appear in the first story (8 chapters) but yes there will be hayffie later and hayffie will kick so much ass. (I’m having a lot of fun writing hayffie kicking demon ass and being awesome, you have no idea)
> 
> I’m having a lot of fun writing this I will admit and I hope you will have fun too! It’s a bit of crack and a bit of angst and slow burns and romance and a lot of papa!Haymitch and mama!Effie feels and vampires and demons on top. I hope you will follow me on the crazy journey ;) 
> 
> I am going to publish this as a series on tumblr and AO3 (so maybe subscribe to the series not to miss an episode?) but I will publish everything in the same place on FF for convenience sake since they don’t have handy series tools. 
> 
> Thanks to @akachankami for the beta, as usual! 
> 
> I’m excited! Are you excited?

The irony was not lost on Katniss. Not at all.

_Get home before dark,_ she had told Prim countless times, _it’s dangerous outside. There are monsters in the shadows._

Prim would always laugh and tell her she wasn’t a baby anymore to believe in monsters but that she would always come back before dark anyway. And, of course, Prim being Prim, she never broke that promise.

Katniss, now…

Katniss needed to find food _somewhere_ and since she had already been picked up one time to many by the police nicking from various shops around town, that meant roaming the woods with an archery bow that was meant for _school competitions_ and not _hunting_ in hopes she would eventually find a rabbit, a squirrel or something that would fill her sister’s belly. And her mother’s too if she could get her to care about the world outside her head for long enough to _eat_. And, once that was done, maybe there would be some left for her.

She should have headed back home as soon as the sky had darkened, even if it was with an empty bag. Gale had made her sworn she wouldn’t stay in the woods at night without him and, while she had scoffed and told her only friend she could handle herself, she was starting to get why he didn’t want her alone in there.

The woods felt weird.

She knew those woods, that was the thing. Her father used to take her there every week-end before the accident, before he _died_. He had shown her every path, every clearing, every nook and every stream… They used to sing together on the very same path she was walking on and the memory of those better days was so strong that, for a second, she was almost tempted to hum to dispel the weird hush around her.

But she knew humming would be a bad, _bad_ idea.

She could feel eyes on her. There was a tickling sensation running down her neck, every hair on her body was raised and there was goosebump on her skin despite the heavy leather jacket that used to belong to her father. She forced herself to relax and shifted her handle on the bow – the only thing she owned that was a tiny bit expensive and she would have sold it ten times if it hadn’t been necessary for them to get some meat now and then – peering at the trunks around her. She couldn’t see anything between the trees.

But she couldn’t _hear_ anything either. No chirping of birds. No rustling of bushes. None of the usual wildlife noises.

She felt like a prey.

There were some dangerous things in those woods. Bobcats, a coyote or two… Bigger wild cats, maybe… A bear or two further up the mountain… A pack of wolves was possible… But they hardly ever attacked _humans_ despite common misconceptions and they would have had to be as starved as she was to come after her.

She quickened her pace, kissing tonight’s meal goodnight. There were still some cereals left, Prim would have to do with that for now. But her sister needed _proteins_ …

She was pondering the wisdom of trying to snatch something from the old gas station at the edge of town while the cashier was occupied when she felt the presence _just_ behind her.

One second it wasn’t there, the next the tingles at the base of her neck were going wild and she swirled around, arrow notched and ready to fly. She was holding her breath and let it out in a long puff when she recognized the girl in the dark.

“Clove?” she frowned. “That’s your name, right?”

They were in Biology together but Clove was popular and thus part of a clique whereas Katniss tended to hang at the back of the classroom waiting for time to pass.

The girl’s dark hair parted a little when she tilted her head to the side, revealing an odd sort of wound on her neck. It looked like a little like a bite or a scratch or a mix of both.

“You’re hurt.” Katniss frowned, finally lowering her bow with some irritation. _This_ was why she had been forced to interrupt her hunt? _This_ was why she had been scared senseless for the past ten minutes, berating herself for telling her sister scary stories that made _her_ jumpy? “ How did you end up here? Did you get lost?”

“Bonny and Twill brought me here.” Clove finally answered with one of those blinding smiles that kind of girls flashed all the time. Katniss often wondered how much they spent on whitening their teeth and how long she could have made that money last to keep her sister clothed and fed.

“I don’t know them.” Katniss shrugged, already bored with the conversation. “Do you need me to show you out?”

“I’m waiting for my friends.” The girl smiled again, the moon briefly reflecting on her white teeth.

Katniss told herself they did _not_ look like fangs.

“Okay.” She shrugged. “Well, I’m going, then.”

“I don’t think so. They said it’s my turn to bring a snack.” Clove replied, her tone turning a little sadistic.

Katniss sighed and lifted her hands, bow and all, too used to the big bullies to even be surprised. Not that she ever let herself be bullied. High school had its rules. Prey or predator, there was no in between, and she had long decided she couldn’t afford to be a prey. As far as social hierarchy went, she was a nobody. She was on the archery team which meant no one cared at all about her and that suited her just fine. If she played her cards well, archery might get her to college and _hopefully_ then she could take better care of Prim. That didn’t mean she let herself be bullied by pretty girls she could have knocked flat out on their ass in about five seconds. The jocks were harder to fend off but Gale’s near constant shadow was enough to keep them off her back.

“Sorry, I don’t have anything on me.”

It wasn’t even a lie. She had caved and eaten the cereal bar Mellark had ‘forgotten’ next to her books earlier in the library. Mellark was always _forgetting_ food around her since she had flat out refused to take it from him and since it had become common knowledge she had been arrested by the police for shoplifting food. Sometimes entire loaves of bread were left unattended where she was certain to find them.

She hated it, _resented_ it.

Yet she was also grateful because as much as she hated the feeling of being a charity case, that was the only way Prim got to eat bread once in a while.

She turned around to put an end to that weird conversation and badly startled when she found herself faced with two girls she had never seen before in her life. The Seam wasn’t that big. There was only one high school. But perhaps they weren’t from around there…

The one on the left was younger than her, closer to Prim’s age, and she had a birthmark that vaguely looked like a strawberry on her left eye. She was very pale, almost sickly so, and her clothes were… Katniss wasn’t a fashion expert by any means. She liked sturdy pants, sturdy boots and shirts. The cheaper, the better. But what that kid was wearing looked very much like it had been in fashion fifty years earlier.

The other one, on the other hand, looked older than her. Old enough to already be in college maybe. Her clothes too looked old.

“Good job, Clove.” the oldest grinned. “She looks tasty.”

They were closing in on her and not in a friendly way. Katniss abruptly walked back so she could have the three of them in sight and her back hit a tree.

“What do you want?” she snapped, not quite afraid yet because… What could a teen, a young woman and a kid do to her? “I don’t have any money and I don’t have any food.”

“Oh, but you _do_ have food…” the kid sing-sang in a creepy tone. “ _You_ are food.”

And then her face _rippled_.

It must have been a trick of the light. It _must_ have been. One second her face was normal if you excepted the birthmark and the next her face was all… _Frowny_ and _bumpy_. Her eyes were glowing yellow and her teeth…

_Get home before dark, little duck. It’s dangerous outside. There are monsters in the shadows._

Clove’s face was wrong too now.

And the woman’s…

Katniss didn’t stop to check if it was a prank, if one of their friends was hiding in the woods recording everything on their phone or if she would go to school tomorrow to find everyone laughing at the video of the weirdo archer girl running scared in the woods…

She _ran_.

As fast and as far as she could. She jumped over roots, cut through the trees rather than stay on the path… She knew where she was going even in her panic.

In the end, it was the bow that made her trip. She was still holding it and the tip of it got caught in some bushes. She could have left it behind and kept on running but…

The bow was all she owned.

It was her ticket out of there and her only way to find food that wasn’t stealing.

She stopped to untangle it, willing her racing heart to stop. There were no signs that the three _whatever_ were after her, the woods were calm and she had probably overreacted anyway. Now that she was calm enough to think, a prank seemed like the most likely explanation.

At least until she heard the groan.

It was the only warning she got and she spun around, bow in position.

“I will shoot you.” she warned the kid with the bumpy face. The kid grinned and… _Were those fangs?_

“Careful, Bonnie…” the woman cackled behind her. “She will shoot you.”

“I wish she’d hurry and do it. There’s a bottle with my name on it at home.” a different unfamiliar voice answered. That one was male and bored and Katniss almost jumped out of her skin, wondering just _how many people were in those woods tonight_.

Of course, then, the woman looked down in surprise at her chest where a pointy piece of wood was suddenly protuberating and then she exploded – _exploded_ – into a cloud of dust.

For a second, they all stood there frozen, she and Bonnie included. Eventually, the dust settled and she spotted the shape of the man in the darkness. He was wearing pants that were frayed and dirty at the knees, a shirt and one of those weird waistcoats men always wore in old British TV shows. His jacket presumably had been tossed aside on top of what looked like a messenger bag at the base of a tree. He had dirty blond hair that looked too long and unwashed, his mouth was pursed in a displeased line and his jaw was eaten by out of control stubble. His grey eyes though, almost the same shade of grey as hers, were sharp.

“Aim for the heart, sweetheart.” he advised.

And before she could ask what he meant by _that_ or even who he was and what the _hell_ was going on, Bonnie was lunging at her with an enraged growl that sounded like an animal’s.

Fear made her react before she could think twice and she let the arrow fly.

There wasn’t much range and Bonnie had leaped though so even if she had aimed for the heart, the arrow embedded itself in the kid’s shoulder instead.

_Was_ it a kid?, Katniss had time to wonder before the… _thing_ – she was going with thing, it had a weird face and _fangs_ – was on her. She fell hard on the ground, the weight of the monster pinning her down, and she couldn’t help a small yelp when the fangs came dangerously close to her throat. She grabbed Bonnie’s hair by reflex and pulled her head back, struggling to keep her away from her neck.

“You missed.” the man commented conversationally.

She glanced in his direction to find he was leaning against a tree, toying with a wooden… _Was that a stake?_

“I never miss.” she snarled right back. “She _moved_.”

The stranger snorted. “Rude of her. Ask them to stand still next time.”

Bonnie was trying to claw her face off and Katniss was having troubles keeping her hold on her. “A little help?”

“Nah. You’ve got it.” The man shrugged. “Remember. The heart. Or I guess you can rip her head off. That would work too.”

The man was just as crazy and potentially as dangerous as the monsters, she decided. Assuming he _wasn’t_ one of them. They had looked perfectly normal before they went all… _fangy_.

She wasn’t sure how she managed it, she went with her instincts, but she managed to roll them over so she was on top of Bonnie. Which wasn’t really any help because she had let go of her bow and she didn’t have any…

“Catch.”

That was her only warning before something was hurled at her. She grabbed it and slammed it down into the monster’s chest before she could even _process_. It was all instinct. Then, she fell in a pile of dead leaves when Bonnie burst into dust, filling her mouth and nose with _stuff_.

She coughed and coughed until her eyes were full of tears.

“So… Congratulations, you’re the Chosen One.” the man declared once she had stopped trying to spit out a lung. “Embrace the probability of your imminent death.”

She looked at him with a glare, ready to rip him a new one – first for not helping and then because he might _just_ be one of them – when, as karma would have it, something jumped on him from behind.

_Clove_.

He crashed hard on the ground on his front and the girl went directly for his neck but he was faster than he looked. His elbow flew back, right into the girl’s head, and he managed to shove her off him. He was almost on his feet when she attacked again and made him trip. In a second, she was on top of him and her fangs were deep in his throat. He struggled but was clearly overpowered.

She had thought Clove would rip his throat out like a predator would but instead she was… She was sucking his blood.

_Vampires_ , a voice whispered in her head. _Just like in the nightmares that had been plaguing her for weeks_.

She ignored it for now.

The stake in her hand was broken. She wasn’t sure how it had happened. Maybe two monsters was its limits or maybe she had slammed it too hard into Bonnie’s chest. Aware that the man’s resistance was growing faint – blood loss, the sane part of her mind supplied – she grabbed her bow and rushed to the bag he had tossed earlier and emptied it on the ground in hope of finding another stake.

There was a flask, a matchbox, an old heavy book, a cross like the one you found in churches complete with a tiny Christ on it but no more stakes. Her only weapon was her bow but the angle wasn’t right…

_Vampires_ …

Instinct took over, guided her hands, and before she knew what she was doing she had ripped a good piece of the abandoned jacket off and wrapped around the pointy hand of an arrow before lighting it on fire. Clove looked up then, a startle look in her yellow monsterish eyes. The man looked at her too and it was probably a good thing he could _still_ look at all given the blood trickling down his neck.

“Wait up now, Karen…” Clove said, lifting both hands in front of her defensively. “It _is_ Karen, right?”

She _hated_ Bee queens.

She released the arrow, automatically compensating for the heavier weight of the fabric and the flames, and while Clove tried to crawl back, it was too late, she caught fire. Katniss shot another one in her heart for good measure.

Dust rained down on the man who remained lying there, panting a little.

She was half-tempted to leave him there, run home and pretend the whole evening had never happened.

She remained where she was, a third arrow notched and ready.

“Fire.” the man mumbled, pressing a hand against the wound on his neck. “Old school. Not bad. We might make something out of you yet. If you don’t immolate yourself first…”

She frowned and was about to ask what he meant when she _smelt_ it. And then she _felt_ it. Somehow, at some point, a spark must have fell down on her because her sturdy brown pants were catching fire. She dropped her bow with a frightened yelp and patted herself until it had died down and she was certain she wasn’t going to end up like Clove.

Her leg and her palms hurt but at least she was alive.

Meanwhile, the stranger had somehow pulled himself up in a sitting position. He was swaying a little but his eyes were riveted on her, _studying_ her in a way that made her scowl.

“What?” she spat.

“I don’t like you, girl on fire.” he retorted and it sounded like a warning.

“Right now, I don’t like you much either.” she snapped. “Are you even human or are you… What _were_ those things?”

“Oh, come on… Are we _really_ doing this?” he sighed. “The whole denial thing?” He dragged himself to the closest tree and leaned against the trunk, still pressing his hand against his wound. “Toss me the flask, yeah? That’s a good girl…”

“Don’t talk to me like that.” she ordered, not moving one inch to get him his flask.

Now that neither of them was in any danger of getting eaten, she glanced at his upturned bag and inspected it a little more closely. She snatched the heavy book. It _was_ old but she had been wrong, it wasn’t black at all. The cover was made of leather, it was kept closed by weird looking gold locks, and on it, in peeling golden letters, was branded the word… _vampyr._

The book belonged to her.

The feeling was so strong and so sudden that it scared her and she tossed it away, watching it as if it was going to _attack_ her. But it didn’t do anything weird. It remained where she had tossed it, on top of the empty bag. It was just a book.

“Into every generation a slayer is born.” the man droned out slowly, quietly, in a way that made her think he was quoting something. “One girl in all the world. A chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer.”

She stared at him for a whole minute before scoffing. “You’re insane.”

“You just killed two vampires.” he snorted, using the trunk to haul himself up. “I’d love to hear you rationalize _that_ for me.” 

He didn’t look so good. His skin was clammy and he was swaying a little on his feet.

“You need to go to the hospital.” she pointed out. “You need a blood transfusion.”

“Not the first time, not the last time.” he dismissed. “I need to eat something and you look like you could use a meal too so let’s get out of these _fucking_ woods and go somewhere we can eat and talk.”

“I am not going anywhere with you.” she denied.

That was rule number two. _Never follow a stranger anywhere, Prim, it’s dangerous._

She had broken rule number one already that night and look how it had turned out for her…

“Look…” he sighed. “You can run but I’m gonna find you again anyway, Katniss. The nightmares won’t stop until you accept who you are and monsters won’t stop existing just ‘cause you wish it really hard.”

She startled at hearing her name on his lips but she had the feeling it had been deliberate. To let her know he knew who she was.

As for the nightmares… How could he know about _that_? She hadn’t told _anyone_.

She had _never_ told anyone about the weird dreams, only her parents had known and her mother had long stopped caring. They had always been there, somehow, for as long as she could remember but never with that intensity. And it was normal for a little girl to dream of monsters, wasn’t it? They came and went. She was stressed and so she had nightmares – night terrors – but it had never reached a peak like recently. She had barely slept in the last week.

Every night for about a week she had died in her sleep. Every time she was a different girl. Every time she ended up dead. She hadn’t told _anyone_ about it.

“How do you know my name?” she glared, picking up her bow in a way she hoped to be threatening. “How do you know about the nightmares?”

“You’re the Slayer.” he repeated impatiently. “Here’s how it works: a Slayer dies, another one wakes up, _she_ dies, the next is called, that one dies and that brings us to you. I’ve been sent to help you until you kick the bucket and someone other than me draws the lucky ticket to coach the next dead girl to be.”

Her heart was racing in her chest but being afraid wasn’t a possibility right now. So she got mad instead.

“You’re a lunatic.” she accused.

He rolled his eyes, stumbled to his belongings and snatched the flask from the ground before taking a long gulp. “I’m a _drunk_. Doesn’t make me crazy.”

She shook her head and turned around, marching away at a determined pace.

“So we’re doing this the hard way, then?” he shouted after her.

She didn’t stop, she didn’t look back, she didn’t cave to the temptation of snatching the book on her way. She kept on marching until she was home and then she ignored Prim’s worried questions or their mother’s empty looks. She went straight to the shower stall and told herself that when she would come out, she would have accepted some of the jerks at school had pulled an _elaborate_ prank on her and a crazy old drunk who might just also be a serial killer had stumbled upon it.

When she slipped into bed, she had almost convinced herself she was shaking because the crappy two bedrooms trailer which rent she wasn’t sure how she would pay next month didn’t have any heating.

“Katniss, are you alright?” her baby sister whispered, lying down behind her.

She turned around, spooned Prim and held her tight.

It had to have been a weird prank. It _had_ to. 

Because if it wasn’t and there really were _vampires_ out there… That meant her sister was in danger.


	2. Chapter 2

If it was a prank, it wasn’t one that had been made public yet.

Katniss had been waiting for the laughter and the mocking comments ever since she had put a foot at the school that morning but so far, nobody had said anything. First period had been boring like Math always was and she felt like she was suffocating. Her whole body felt too tight for her, _coiled_. Her skin was tingling with an odd sixth sense that told her doom was impending.

“Hey.”

She almost jumped out of her skin and slammed the boy who had startled her right against the row of lockers.

Gale stared at her with wide eyes. Either at the unexpected violence or because she had lifted him up a few inches in the air without breaking a sweat.

She dropped him and stepped back with wide eyes of her own.

“Okay…” her best friend said slowly. “Wanna explain?”

She licked her lips and averted her eyes, hiding behind the curtain of her hair. She usually tied it up in an utilitarian braid but, that day, she had felt the need for some additional cover. “Sorry. I’m jumpy today.”

“Right.” Gale frowned. “So… Your sister texted my brother and Rory texted me. The word on the street is that you are being weird since last night…”

“Prim should mind her business.” Katniss grumbled. “I’m fine.”

She headed down the corridor toward her next class, not entirely surprised when Gale followed her.

“She’s just worried about you.” he pointed out. “And it’s not like you to be so jumpy you pin me to a locker, Catnip. Did something happen?”

She hesitated. She told Gale everything. Or _almost_ everything, at least. Gale understood her like nobody else ever would. His father was dead too and he, too, was struggling to help his mother raise his two brothers and his baby sister. Like her, he hadn’t always been on the good side of the law and he was the one who had actually taught her how to poach in the woods. And, to top it off, he was also on the archery team. Gale Hawthorne was her best friend and she was sure that if she told him about the weird night she had had, he would find an explanation that was a little more rational than _vampires are a real thing_.

Before she could say anymore, the bell rang and she made a face because she couldn’t afford to be late _again_. If she got kicked out of school, social services would poke their nose in her mother’s business again and Katniss had _barely_ managed to convince them Aster was fit to take care of her and Prim last time.

“I’ll tell you later.” she promised.

“You better.” He smiled. “See you at practice.”

She rushed to the History classroom and almost flung herself at her usual seat but students were still chatting between themselves despite her late entrance. There were excited whispers around and she caught words like “retired” and “surprise” and “new teacher” floating around. She didn’t pay it any attention, she fished her old battered phone from her bag and groaned when she realized she had forgotten to charge it _again_.

It wasn’t a fancy model like all the smartphones all the wealthy kids had. It was a very basic model. All it could do was call and send text. It still had actual keys instead of a touch screen. It suited her needs just fine though. She only used it for emergencies. She had nobody to call and nobody to text beside Gale who she saw every day at school and who didn’t live that far away from her home that she couldn’t make the trip in ten minutes if she really needed something.

Because she was busy laboriously tapping a text to Prim asking her _not_ to disclose her private business to any Hawthorne boy, she missed the new teacher’s arrival. She didn’t, however, miss the hush that fell on the classroom or the characteristic squeaky sound of the pen on the whiteboard.

The man’s back was to the room. He was wearing a blue suit as far as she could tell and his handwriting was atrocious.

She was too busy trying to decipher his name to look at him yet.

_Haymitch Abernathy_

The feeling of dread was back and, when she finally looked at the man, she wasn’t entirely surprised to find the stranger from the previous night smirking right at her.

“Let’s cut to the chase…” He was addressing the class but it felt as if he was talking to _her_ specifically and she found herself scowling. She didn’t like getting played like this. “You don’t want to be here and I hate teaching so we’re in good company. Let’s try to make our time together bearable. You don’t bother me, I don’t bother you. Seems fair?”

It earned him a few laughs.

Katniss just glared.

For someone who claimed to hate teaching, he wasn’t a _terrible_ teacher. He seemed to know his subject at least. That wasn’t always a given with teachers in a town as small and as poor as the Seam.

Still, she was the first one to rush out of the room when the bell rang.

The day dragged on. She was a little afraid Abernathy would try to corner her somewhere but, true to his statement, he didn’t seem willing to bother her. She supposed that meant she should go to him first. Fat chance of that.

She didn’t need his help because none of it was true.

When Gale asked her again at practice what had bothered her so much that morning, she told him it was nothing and, this time, she meant it. She went back to the woods with him after school and they managed to catch a few squirrels.

They didn’t meet any weird people.

Nothing odd happened.

She blamed hunger for the whole thing and vowed not to hunt on an empty stomach again.

She was almost happy when she went to school the next day – as happy as you could be when the fridge and the cupboards were empty and bills were piling on the wobbly table. She was _relieved_ it had all been in her head, truth be told. It was the only reason she didn’t immediately scowl and turned Mellark away when he casually asked if she wanted what was left of his chocolate cake because he had packed too much.

It wasn’t the first time he had cornered her in the Biology classroom before the lesson started with offers of food. Prim loved chocolate cake and she was in a good mood so she thanked him and made sure it was carefully wrapped in the paper napkin before placing it in her bag. He looked surprised and a little hopeful and he must have taken that as a tacit permission to sit because next thing she knew, he was on the stool next to hers.

That was Madge’s seat and Katniss looked at the classroom’s door with panic, hoping the blond girl would hurry and show up. Madge wasn’t _really_ a friend because they didn’t hang out outside of school but they had been Biology partners since forever and they had eaten lunch together a few times. Madge was alright. She knew how to deal with Madge.

She didn’t know how to deal with Peeta Mellark who was king of the jocks and captain of the wrestling team.

To be fair, Mellark had always been nice to her. They had been in the same class for as long as she could remember and he was a shy kid despite his popularity. She didn’t think he had a mean bone in his body. But he was rich and they didn’t belong in the same world and Katniss was naturally weary of anyone who didn’t have to sweat and bleed to get their next meal.

Today, he looked unusually gloomy.

And, now that she was paying attention, so did the rest of the popular clique. Was Glimmer _crying_?

“What’s wrong?” she asked, nodding at his friends who all looked a mix of worried and depressed. That was as unusual as it got. They were always happy, shallow and haughty.

“You didn’t hear?” he said, sounding sad too. “Cato and Clove disappeared.”

The name of the girl she had set on fire was like a stab in the chest. She had done her best to repress the whole thing, _not_ to think about why Clove hadn’t been around since that night. Her absence didn’t fit with the rational explanations she had settled on.

“Three days ago.” he continued when she didn’t say anything. “The police think they ran away together but… It’s just not like them. And they didn’t take any clothes or anything… It’s so weird…”

“Right. Weird.” she repeated flatly.

He forced a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I just hope they’re alright…”

“Yeah.” she said and she wondered if she imagined how strangled it sounded.

“Your partner’s here… I’ll…” He pointed out to his usual seat, a little hesitant and she nodded, already catching Madge’s eyes who was doing her own brand of hesitation at finding her seat taken. “Katniss?” He placed her hand on her wrist and she automatically snatched it away. He looked hurt for a second but then it was gone and his face was entirely too serious. “I know you often go to the woods on your own… Be careful, alright? I heard weird things are happening over there.”

“Thanks for the cake.” she mumbled.

_Well_ , she thought, ignoring Madge’s awkward questions about what _Peeta_ _Mellark_ wanted with _her… Shit_.

°O°O°O°O°

Haymitch wasn’t surprised to find the girl on his classroom’s threshold at the end of the day.

He considered her as she studied him, dislike written all over her face. She didn’t look like much, his new Slayer… She was underweight. _Underfed_ , he corrected himself. Her features were striking and she could have been pretty if she hadn’t looked so famished, her skin was olive brown, her long black hair was tied back in a braid – which was good because he _hated_ having to tell girls to tie their _fucking_ hair up because it wouldn’t help to be pretty once they were dead… Her eyes were grey, a shade lighter than his. For as small and thin as she was, she looked strong though and that, he decided, was good.

“Thought we had an agreement, sweetheart. Don’t bother me, I won’t bother you.” he mocked. 

She didn’t answer. She kept watching him with wariness and disgust and maybe a little bit of fear. All of which was fair as far as he was concerned.

He started packing up. Books in the bag, homework tossed in the desk drawer for him to grade later or never, the flask he had resisted the urge of touching for most of the day back in his pocket… _Fuck_ but he hated teaching. He couldn’t believe he was back to doing _that_.

He didn’t pay her attention because it wasn’t how it was going to be. He didn’t dance to her tune, she danced to his. At least, that was how it was supposed to work anyway.

He could already tell this one would be difficult.

Wouldn’t save her in the long run though.

“There’s a boy missing.” she said eventually, when it became clear he wouldn’t speak first.

She stepped inside the classroom and closed the door behind her. She didn’t wander closer though, she stayed within reach of the door and as far away from the desk he was standing at as she could. _Skittish_ , he noted.

“And?” he asked in a bored tone.

She didn’t like that.

He wondered if the scowl was her natural expression or if it was especially for him.

“And he’s Clove’s boyfriend.” she added as if it was obvious and he was being obtuse on purpose. “The girl who chewed on your neck.”

He touched the wound by reflex. It was healing without problems but it would leave a scar. By his last count, it was his fourth vampire bite.

“ _And_?” he insisted, dragging the question out.

“And maybe he’s… _like her_.” she snapped. “You have to do something.”

He burst out laughing. A rough bitter laugh that made her even more weary of him, he could tell. That or he was starting to piss her off.

“ _I_ don’t have to do _shit_.” he countered. “ _I_ ’m not the Slayer.”

She glared. “The Chosen One thing is _bullshit_.”

“Don’t need to convince _me_ of that, trust me.” he snorted. “But if you think the _vampire_ thing is _bullshit_ , you don’t need me, then, yeah? Can’t have it both ways, sweetheart.” He watched her for a second and then leaned against the side of the desk, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Tell me, if you weren’t out looking for vampires, what were you doing with a bow in the woods at night?”

“I was hunting.” she answered as if it that made the least bit of sense in that day and age.

Though, if the looks of her was anything to go by, it actually made _some_ sense.

“Hungry?” he asked, coming to a split decision. “There’s a diner not too far away. Good food.”

“I’ve got archery practice.” she countered.

_At least, it’s not a cheerleader this time,_ he mused.

“Your call.” He shrugged. “Let’s hope your missing boy doesn’t chew on anyone tonight…”

He left the classroom without looking back.

He was out of the building by the time she caught up with him, her bow and quiver slung over one shoulder and her school bag over the other one.

“You’re an _asshole_.” she commented. “People could _die_. You don’t care at all?”

“People die all the time.” he replied. “ _You_ ’re gonna die.”

She flinched and he might have felt a tiny bit sorry if that part of him had still been operational. But it wasn’t. He had turned it off a long time ago. He couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ care. She would die. They all did. There was nothing he could do about it and he didn’t believe in lying to his charges. If they listened to him, they might live that little bit longer. If not…

Somehow, he didn’t think Katniss Everdeen would be the kind of Slayers who _listened_.

“ _Asshole_.” she repeated under her breath.

Despite himself, he smirked. At least, she had spunk. He hated it when they were meek and compliant. Watcher-raised slayers were always like that. _Obedient_. Good soldiers but no personalities, no room for adaptation. Eventually, that got them killed. He had refused to take up a Potential when he had been asked. He specialized in rogue slayers.

The Council of Watchers – or, as he had once heard William The Bloody say _The Council of Wankers_ – made a point of collecting girls who _could_ be called and placing them in a Watcher’s care as young as possible. It wasn’t a fail-proof system though. Potentials hoped and prayed to be chosen but for a hundred of them, only one was picked, and sometimes, the girl who was called hadn’t been detected or found in time to be brought up properly.  The Council called it a rogue, he called it a victor.

He worked well enough with them.

Better than with the brainwashed ones, in any case.

The diner was nothing to sing about. It was decrepit, like almost everything else in this town, and there was grease everywhere – he had never found out if that was why the owner had named it _Greasy Sae’s_ – but the food was decent and it hadn’t changed since the last time he had been there, decades ago. Anywhere else at that time of day, the place would have been crowded with teenagers but it was mostly deserted except for a few patrons sitting at the counter.

Either there was another newer place to get burgers somewhere he hadn’t found yet or people knew not to linger outside after dark. Slayers were called where they were most needed so he would bet on the latter.

Some Watchers actually brought their Potentials to hot zones in hope that it would trick fate into turning them into the Slayer. Usually, it only meant more dead girls before they even reached puberty.

And if they _weren’t_ chosen by the time they turned eighteen they were either hired to work for the Council as operatives or researchers or tossed on the streets without the means to do anything of themselves. You couldn’t raise a kid without getting attached, of course, but that wasn’t well seen by the higher ups and it wasn’t advised to keep in touch with a Potential who wasn’t a Potential anymore. Things had to be professional, after all. Detached. Neutral. For tweed, Queen and country. _Fucking_ British.

“Katniss?” one of the waitresses asked uncertainly, once they had grabbed one of the booths in the corner. The discreet ones.

It occurred to him that it might look weird for a forty year-old teacher to be seen at a diner with a sixteen year-old student. Rumors would be rampant if he wasn’t careful.

“Hello, Hazelle.” the kid answered in a casual voice. Either because she didn’t get why her friend looked worried to see her with a much older man or because she didn’t care at all. “Can I have two cheeseburgers with fries to go? He’s paying.”

She added the last part both defensively and aggressively. The defensiveness was for the waitress and to the implication she didn’t have the means to pay. The aggressiveness was for his sake, he figured, to let him know she was in charge.

It amused him. _She_ amused him. She barely reached his shoulder and she looked like a draft could knock her over but she was so full of anger that he started thinking maybe she had what it took.

It was a dangerous road, of course. It led to hope. And hope led to heartbreak.

He turned his most charming smile toward the waitress – a smile that hopefully said _I am not a pervert  who preys on little girls_ – and the woman relaxed a little but not by much. “What she said plus two cheeseburgers and fries for us to eat here, please. And a beer. You want something to drink?”

She looked taken aback by the lack of resistance on the bill front and, if possible, even more cautious than before. “Coke.”

And the weariness triggered the waitress’ warning bells again.

He would need to teach her to be a little more covert.

“Is Sae around?” he asked casually, because he knew the familiar name would go a long way into making himself look like less of a stranger.

“No, she’s rarely in anymore.” the waitress frowned. “You know her?”

“Yeah, for a long time. I was born here, actually. Went away, came back a few years later, went away again…” He outstretched a hand in introduction. “Name’s Haymitch. I’m the new History teacher at Seam High. And I ain’t trying to seduce the kid or something… I’m a family friend. Came to help.”

“Ah.” she exclaimed in a deep relieved breath with a guilty look for Katniss. “That makes sense with Aster’s troubles…” He had meant _tutoring_ because that was his usual cover story and now he was intrigued. _What kind of troubles?_ She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Haymitch. I’m Hazelle Hawthorne. My oldest son is taking History. Gale?”

He winced. “Only my second day, sorry… I don’t know all the kids yet.”

“No problem.” She laughed. “It’s probably a good thing you didn’t notice him. Let me know if he gives you troubles.”

She left to place their order and he waited until he was sure she couldn’t overhear before turning his attention back to Katniss who was studying him as if she couldn’t believe him.

“You lied to her.” she accused.

“Want me to get up on the table and shout to the world that you’re the Slayer and I’m your Watcher?” he snorted. “That would go down well.”

“Maybe we should.” she retorted “Those _things_ the other night… They could have killed us.”

“They’re demons.” he clarified. “Subclass but demons. And, yeah, they could have killed us. But you go shout around about vampires and you’re gonna find yourself locked up in a loony bin before you can say _Slayer_.” He shook his head. “Rule number two is… the whole thing is secret.”

“What’s rule number one?” she countered.

“Survive.” he deadpanned.

He chose the word on purpose. Not _don’t die_ or _stay alive_ but _survive_. It was different. Surviving was harder.

She pondered that a moment and then sulked a little. “I meant you lied about being from around here.”

It was his turn to ponder that for a moment. He decided on the truth because… why not? “Didn’t lie. I left for good a while ago though.” Hazelle came back with their drinks and he waited until after she had assured them their orders were coming before addressing Katniss again. “What’s with the food? You’re stocking up or you’re feeding an army?”

She took a sip of her soda and at the way she closed her eyes for a fraction of second after the first taste, he simply _knew_ it was a luxury she hadn’t afforded herself in a long time. It wasn’t that surprising, he supposed, given the worn out clothes and the malnourished look.

He didn’t expect a straight answer so he wasn’t disappointed when he didn’t get one.

“This Slayer thing…” she ventured after a moment. “It’s like a job?”

“More like a calling.” He waved his hand in the air a little angrily. “You can say no to a job, you can’t say no to destiny when it comes knocking.”

“I meant: does it pay?” she clarified.

Again, he found himself laughing. And that surprised him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed before that day.

Johanna maybe.

Katniss was the first one who had ever asked _that_ though.

“You could stop laughing every time I ask a question, you know.” she sulked, sliding down her seat and folding her arms in front of her chest like a petulant child.

Ah, _fuck_. She was one of those he was going to like. He could already tell.

That was bad.

“If you need money we can work something out.” he offered because he had too much of it anyway. Watchers were well paid. To keep their mouth shut and follow orders, mostly.

“I don’t take charity.” she snarled. “If it ain’t paid, I’m not interested. I need a _job_ , not a calling.” 

“Then why don’t you already have one?” he asked, honestly curious. Poaching in the woods couldn’t keep her fed.

“Because people know I’ve been arrested for stealing before.” she grumbled. “They won’t hire me.”

She had a past with the police. That might become a problem. Slayers often found themselves in the middle of troubles. He would have to make sure she never got caught.

Hazelle came back with their food and he thanked her while Katniss pounced on the burger. She tried not to be obvious about it but it was glaring to him. He wondered when she had last eaten a proper meal.

He tried another angle. “Why do you need the money?”

He told himself he was getting to know her because it would help him prepare her for the mission. Not because he cared for her as a person.

She was already dead and he needed to remember that.

They were _always_ already dead when they came to him. They just didn’t know it yet.

Half the cheeseburger was gone already and she washed it out with two greedy gulps of soda.

He had yet to touch his beer or the food.

“My sister. I take care of her.” she explained a little reluctantly.

That explained the burgers to go.

“Your parents don’t?” he probed carefully.

The Council hadn’t told him much about her. They never did. Slayers who activated in the wild were always a bit of mysteries – unplanned elements. They had given him a name, a place – and how _fucking_ _thrilled_ he had been to find himself back _there_ – and a school picture that was two years out of date.

“My dad’s dead.” she snapped. _Barked_. As if he should have known or guessed or… “Mom’s… Mom never got over it. I take care of Prim.”

It would make it easier in a way. Parents could be difficult to reason with.

Still…

One parent dead and the other out of the picture, a sibling to support…

_Too familiar._

He dipped one of the French fries in his glass of beer, ignoring her disgusted glance, before popping it in his mouth. “I can help with the money.”

She glared. “I don’t…”

“It’s not charity.” he cut her off. “I’m your Watcher.”

She watched him dip another fry in his beer. She was eating more slowly now, either because she felt sick from having gulped so much down or because she wanted to savor it.

“Because I’m the Chosen One.” she scoffed. “That still sounds crazy.”

“I know.” he offered because he did. It never got any less weird.

“I’m not special.” she insisted.

“I know.” he repeated. Another Watcher might have claimed she _was_ special, that she was chosen, and destiny and prophecy and honor, _yada yada yada_ … The truth of it was the girls were always ordinary girls up until the previous one died. It didn’t help to sugarcoat it.

“Well, _thanks_.” she remarked. She sounded less hostile and he felt his lips twitch so he busied himself by taking a bite of his cheeseburger. He _wouldn’t_ care. Not this time. She munched on a fry, watching him. “What’s a Watcher?”

“A mentor.” he explained. “When a Slayer dies and another is activated the Council sends her a Watcher. Sometimes it’s the same person, sometimes not. Depends of the new Slayer’s needs.” He took a mouthful of beer. It tasted better with the fries. “I’m gonna train you: teach you to fight, teach you about demons, teach you how to use different weapons… That kind of things. Also, you’re gonna love that part… I’m gonna tell you where to go and what to do and you’re gonna report to me. Basically, I’m your boss.”

She snorted.

Yeah… He hadn’t thought it would be that easy either.

“Is Watcher a job or were you _called by  fate_ too?” she mocked.

“A bit of both.” he chuckled bitterly. “But I’m being paid so I’m gonna say it’s a job. You should eat before it gets cold.”

She tossed him an odd look but finished her cheeseburger. Then, of course, she asked the question he knew had been coming from the start of the conversation. “How many Slayers did you know?”

He took another sip of beer, if only to make sure his voice would still be steady when he would speak. “Know? Seven. But _I_ trained five if that’s what you want to know. I started when I was nineteen and I’m forty now so I’m gonna let you do the math as far as a Slayer’s life expectancy goes…”

She was staring at him but he didn’t look at her, he focused on eating his fries.

“So… The last Slayer… The one before me… You trained her?” she asked in a tone that wanted to be steady and was anything but.

“No.” he denied. “Last one was somewhere in Africa, I think. The one before her was mine, though. She was in Los Angeles. Nice weather, nasty demons. A Selkie drowned her. It was a mercy, really. She had gone mad.” 

Annie had been too soft for this life.

He had never understood why she had been called in the first place. _Too soft_. He had known it from the start. One horror too many and she had started slipping into trances he couldn’t shake her out of. The Council had figured it out eventually, had sent a Watcher in training to assist him – a spy – the joke had been on them when instead of turning her in, Finnick had fallen in love with the broken girl. They had managed to keep her alive for a few months longer between the two of them.

Then, of course, she had followed that Selkie into the ocean and they had never known if the demon had tricked her or if she had just wanted it all to end.

_‘Death is my gift’_ she had whispered to him more than once and he hadn’t understood, not until he had found her floating body, not until he had been forced to restrain a yelling Finnick…

“Annie Cresta.” he added as an afterthought.

Her name figured in the Chronicles, of course, but he doubted anyone would read the journal he had kept about her. First because he had been told more than once than his records were awful and then because she hadn’t been one of the great ones. She had lasted a year. It wasn’t bad, more than most recently, but she hadn’t done anything noteworthy. She had just lost her sanity.

Girls and girls and girls sent to the slaughterhouse…

“How long will I last?” Katniss asked.

The question slapped him back to the present and he forced himself to focus, to ignore the burning need to take a sip of the hard liquor hiding in his pocket. He couldn’t afford to get drunk when he had a Slayer to mentor.

He had no good answer to offer though and the longer he remained silent the clearer it became that the silence _was_ the answer.

She wasn’t the first one to ask him that. He could remember another girl, with honey blond hair and bright blue eyes asking him the very same thing in that very same dinner. In hindsight, he should have brought Katniss elsewhere.

“I have a sister.” she hissed between her teeth. Her eyes were shiny but the tears never made it through. “I’m all she has. I can’t…”

“If it comes down to that, _when_ it comes down to that… I’ll make sure the kid’s taken care of.” he promised. That was the only thing he could do. He couldn’t promise to save _her_ , but the sister he could see to. “I had a younger brother. I know what that’s like.”

Their eyes met and something passed between them, then.

An understanding.

They weren’t so much different when it came down to it, it seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus the Slayer found her Watcher! And Peeta, Gale and Madge all appear! Did you like it? I hope you did! Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Katniss wasn’t having a good day.

She was missing practice again.

_And_ Gale wouldn’t stop asking questions. All day with the questions…

The whole school was buzzing about Cato and Clove’s disappearances and she couldn’t tell _anyone_ that Clove, at least, was…

She kept staring at the house with a scorn on her face.

She had checked the address Haymitch – _don’t call me Mr Abernathy when we ain’t in class, sweetheart, makes me feel like a dinosaur_ – had given her three times and there was no mistake: it was here. He was living in a big house fit to host at least four people, at the very end of the very classy suburbia that had been _so_ expensive that even the wealthiest people in town hadn’t been able to afford it. It had long been abandoned – which was why most of the houses were empty and it looked like a ghost town up there. This, somehow, was a _joke_.

She had been debating between joke and nightmare since the previous night though.

After they were done eating their burgers, he had taken her to the woods for a patrol. A part of her had wondered if she was crazy to follow him up there where they would be alone and he would be able to do whatever he wanted with her before murdering her like the crazy person he _obviously_ was.

They hadn’t found Cato but they _had_ found the guy who tended to the cashing machine at the gas station. And he had been very intent on eating them for dinner.

Haymitch had been absolutely unhelpful.

He had leaned against a tree and had shouted instructions she had followed as best as she could. She hadn’t known she could fight before, not like that at least. But fighting, it turned out, had become instinctive and it made her body _hum_ with the thrill of the hunt. The feeling when she had dusted that vampire had been incredible but it had only lasted a few seconds. Then her stomach had started churning again because it was uncomfortably and unfamiliarly full and Haymitch, instead of congratulating her, had told her she needed to up her game if she didn’t want to end up dead.

She had argued that she had killed three vampires in two days and _he_ had barely gotten one.

He had replied that they were fledglings and that if they ever encountered a master vampire, they would both be in troubles. Apparently, age and power came hand in hand for vampires.

She needed to train.

He had told her that at least ten times. She needed to train, to become better, to become stronger, to become…

She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to become. _Not dead_ probably.

The thing with Haymitch… One second, she hated him. The next, she pitied him.

He was nasty and mean but half of that seemed to be an act and the other half self-preservation. She could relate.

Anyway, that was how she had ended up staring at a house that looked just as empty as its neighbors, in what could have been the wealthiest part of town if it hadn’t become the most decrepit. The house itself wasn’t in awesome shape. The grass was out of control in the yard and at least two blinds were broken and hanging against the outer wall. It looked just as deserted as the other ones.

She only knew it was the right one because there was a bike parked in the driveway.

Now, the bike didn’t look shiny or new but it looked in pristine conditions as far as she could tell – and she wasn’t an expert on bikes by any means. She knew it was a _Harley_ because the brand was right there for her to spot, white words on the black paint.

The bike was the reason she had checked the address the last two times. She just couldn’t picture Haymitch on a bike, the same way she couldn’t picture him teaching her anything about fighting. Sure, he had dusted that vampire the night they had met and, sure, he had slammed his elbow in Clove’s face… But, then again, he had also gotten bitten.

The front door suddenly opened and Haymitch stood there, glaring at her. “You’re gonna stand out here all day or you’re gonna come in at some point? You won’t learn anything out there, girl.” She scowled but stomped her feet into the house, annoyed to have been caught staring. “Before I forget…” He thrust the _vampyr_ book in her hands before he had even slammed the front door shut. “Homework.”

She placed it in her bag with a little more care than he had shown, still feeling an odd sense of belonging for that book, and kept quiet.

She was ill-at-ease.

She didn’t want to be there but he had said he would help with the money.

The way she saw it, since she didn’t have a choice, she might as well get as much out of this Slayer thing as she could get. She would hunt vampires down and train with him and, in exchange, he would get enough food to feed her sister and he would help her take care of the bills. It was like a job, albeit a dangerous one.

She followed him to the kitchen. There was a plate on the table with a sandwich on it and an unopened bottle of coke next to it.

“Eat.” he muttered, heading to the counter. He poured himself a cup of coffee and added some of whatever he kept in his flask into it.

She felt herself turn red. “I don’t need…”

“It’s just a _fucking_ sandwich not a four stars meal.” he cut her off before she could finish her lie. “You’re gonna burn a lot of calories and I’m pretty sure you didn’t have lunch _or_ breakfast. _Eat_.”

This time it was an order and, since it was in relation to the job, she could accept it without it being charity. She still regretted accepting Mellark’s piece of cake the previous day. He seemed to think they were friends now. He stopped to greet her in the hallways and chatted with her in Biology until Madge arrived and he never seemed to think it wrong or odd that she only answered by monosyllabic answers. Charity was dangerous.

She cut the sandwich in half and carefully didn’t notice that it had been _made_ and not _bought._ She couldn’t remember the last time someone had _fixed her_ a snack.

“Eat it all.” he grumbled when he saw what she was doing. “I’ve been to the shop. I have groceries you can take home.”

Her heart was racing again.

How much was risking her life worth? She couldn’t take too much or it wouldn’t be fair, it wouldn’t be a business deal anymore. She couldn’t allow herself to depend on anyone because… It wasn’t just her, it was Prim too and when Haymitch would bail – because adults _always_ bailed…

“Didn’t know being a teacher paid that much.” she shot out.

“Doesn’t.” he dismissed. “The teaching is just for cover. I hate it.” He shook his head. “Being a Watcher pays well and I’ve got few needs.”

“Why this house?” she asked. It was too big, too isolated and there was a musty smell in the air as if it had been closed up too long.

“’Cause I own it and it was easier than go real-estate shopping.” he deadpanned. “Now, stop playing twenty questions and eat your sandwich so I can kick your ass down a peg or two.”

When he led her down to the basement, after she was done eating the _whole_ sandwich, she was very confident he wouldn’t be able to land so much as _one_ hit. She remembered the feeling from the previous night, when she had been fighting that vampire… She had felt incredible. Like she was coming into her own. The power was hers and she had felt invulnerable. He, on the other hand, had no superhuman abilities, was old and, she suspected, a little drunk. Easy prey.

Haymitch had turned the basement into a gym of sort. There was a punching bag dangling from the ceiling in one corner, various weapons mounted on the walls and training equipment crammed into another corner. She inspected the swords and axes with curiosity while he dragged heavy looking gym mats to the center of the room. Some of the blades were rusty. She went over to the punching bag and realized it was a little saggy.

“I’ll get all that fixed.” Haymitch said when he saw what she was looking at. “Most of this stuff is outdated anyway. Start warming up.”

She revised her judgment. _He_ hadn’t turned the basement into a training room. This stuff must have been around for _decades_.

What had he said about the house again? _‘Cause I own it_. From one of the two times he had lived in  the Seam?

 “So you can shoot a bow.” he said, still arranging mats while she stretched like they did in PE. She felt more and more stupid. “What else?”

“Knife.” She shrugged. “Sometimes when you hunt, you’ve got to use one. I can toss one well enough.”

“Yeah?” he perked up. “Knives were kind of my specialties back in the day. Doesn’t work that well with vampires but they’re not the only bumps in the night. We’ll start with stakes.” He tossed one in her direction without pausing to check if she caught it or got impaled by it – she _did_ catch it. “And your hand to hand combat skills ‘cause let me tell you… You _suck_. Come here.”

He didn’t bother grabbing a stake and she was a little scared she would hurt him with the pointy end of hers.

She was so confident she would win that it was a total surprise when she ended up flat on her back.

A fluke, she told herself. She was stronger than he was now. She was faster. She was _the Slayer._

A few of her kicks and punches landed but mostly because he let her. To her speed and her strength, he opposed actual skills and that… That was harder to deflect. Every time he managed to hit her, he mocked her about what she was doing wrong.

She changed her mind about him not being a terrible teacher.

The third time she ended up on the floor, she decided she was done holding back her punches and she attacked with all she had. It still wasn’t enough to win but there were mistakes she knew she wouldn’t do again.

Underestimating her opponent was one of them.

It lasted for what seemed like hours. And when he finally declared they were done, well past the point where she could form a coherent thought, he handed her two groceries bags, told her to go home to take care of Prim and then meet him at the cemetery at eleven.

She grumbled a lot about it, mostly because all she wanted was a shower and to crash into bed, but he kicked her out the door while she was still protesting.

To make things worse, Prim jumped on her as soon as she crossed the threshold of the little trailer they lived in. “Where have you been? Gale called to ask why you were missing practice again. Have you been missing practice?”

She had wanted to avoid that particular conversation a while longer but there was no escaping her twelve year-old sister, her inquisitive blue eyes, or the demonic cat that followed her everywhere around their home but hissed at Katniss every time Prim’s back was turned. She needed to ask Haymitch about possessed cats.

She carried the groceries back to the kitchen, not surprised _not_ to see their mother anywhere in the main area. She _would_ have been surprised if their mother had been up. She was sometimes. She got up and made waffles and for a few hours she remembered she was supposed to be the adult around there, then she went back to bed, curled up on her side and refused to interact with anyone again.

“Where did you find the food?” Prim insisted, a frown on her small face. “Is that a _real_ apple?”

How bad had things gotten that a twelve year-old was so excited to see an actual _fruit_? The fruits they ate tended to be dry and come with the cereals. She let Prim snatch the apple and couldn’t help but smile when she saw how delighted she was at the taste.

“The cheeseburger yesterday and now real food…” Prim continued, her mouth full. “Did we win the lottery?”

“I found a job.” she said. “I might not have time for the archery team anymore. I will explain to Gale tomorrow.”

Prim frowned and climbed on the wobbly stool. “But you love archery…”

“Yeah, but…” she hesitated. She _did_ love shooting her bow and she was sure she would have plenty of reasons to practice. Hand to hand combat was all well and good but she didn’t see the point of going to contact if she could take care of the problem at a distance. This being said, Haymitch had been pretty clear her chance of surviving the year were slim. Never mind going all the way to college. She tried not to dwell on her suddenly short lifespan. There was only one thing that counted and that was Prim. “The job is more important right now. And we can finally have some decent meals.”

Her sister watched with an entirely too knowing look on her young face. “It’s not fair. You love practice. I don’t mind eating only cereals…”

“Don’t worry, little duck. The job is _cool.”_  she lied, ruffling her hair.

Prim ducked away from her hand and fixed her braid, laughing a little. “Yeah? What is it?” 

“Superhero.” Katniss teased, putting the groceries away.

“Come on, tell me.” her sister begged and she was soon distracted from the practice question by Katniss’ evasive answers about what kind of work she had found. And she was even more distracted by the box of chocolate chips cookies at the bottom of the bag.

She thanked Haymitch for that one.

At least until she found herself roaming the cemetery later that night.

It was creepy and wrong in all kind of ways. Haymitch lectured her about how to spot the suspicious deaths in the paper in a bored voice while they walked between two rows of fresh graves. Then, he left her alone with a freshly resurrected vampire and watched her struggle against him. He didn’t lift a finger to help, not even when the vampire slammed her against a headstone that broke on impact and left her stunned on the ground. The vampire closed in and she was pretty sure she was going to be the new record for shortest Slayer alive when the demon disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Haymitch was frowning down at her with a very displeased expression.

“You’re too cocky and I won’t always be here to save your ass. You could have taken him if you had been paying attention in training earlier.” he declared.

“I thought you were supposed to give me some advice.” she snarled, jumping back on her feet just to show off.

“You want some advice? Here’s one.” he sneered “Stay alive.”

That concluded that particular day of lesson and set the tone for what happened during the next two weeks.

Katniss’ life had fallen into some kind of routine.

Every day she woke up, she fixed Prim’s breakfast – with actual healthy food now – she went to school, tried to awkwardly deflect Gale’s pressing questions and Peeta’s more and more frequent friendly conversation, went over to Haymitch’s house after school was over, invariably wondered if the bike was his or if he was keeping it for a friend because she had never seen him on it yet, ate whatever snack was waiting for her in the kitchen, pointedly ignored the empty bottles of liquor and the fact that his house was slowly turning into a dumpster of sort, trained with him in the basement to whichever form of torture he had picked that day – hand to hand, sword fighting, pointless exercises of meditation that seemed to annoy him just as much as it did her… – then she would go home to spend some time with Prim, sneak out once her sister was asleep to go roam a cemetery of Haymitch’s choosing, argue with him, kill a few vampires, argue with him some more, and go home to crash in bed.

Rinse and repeat.

Until that Thursday morning when a shadow suddenly fell across the yellowish page of the vampyr book she was painfully trying to study and she looked up, startled, to find Peeta Mellark awkwardly standing there. She was hiding behind the bleachers outside the football field. It wasn’t the smartest hidden place but it had served her well so far.

“What are you reading?” he asked.

“Just some… novel.” she lied.

Before she could do anything, he had snatched the book as if it was the most natural thing to do.

“ _Vampyr_ …” he read. “I didn’t know you liked that sort of stuff… What is it about? Is it like _Twilight_ or…”

She was on her feet before he even registered she had moved and had grabbed the book back.

“It’s nothing like _Twilight_.” she spat. That much, she was sure of. Unlike Twilight, a good vampire didn’t seem to exist. Once a human was turned, they lost their soul. And without a soul to guide them, there was only the demon. And demons weren’t nice. “What do you want?”

He seemed taken aback and flashed her a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you… I just saw you and…”

“I have to go.” she snapped. 

She ran away before he could offer whatever pastry he had probably brought along for her that day. She wasn’t in the mood to see him make a kicked puppy face when she would refuse and she was in any less of a mood to accept a little more of his pity.

Besides, she was annoyed he had seen the book. She would give it back to Haymitch for safekeeping, she decided. She didn’t dare leave it at home, too afraid Prim would accidentally find it and either figure it all out or have her committed. But it was clear it wasn’t any safer to bring it at school.

Haymitch was pretty insistent on rule two. He kept saying if you got innocent people involved, they inevitably got hurt. And she didn’t believe he was wrong on that front.

She would give the book back to him later, she decided.

“What did Mellark want?” Gale asked, suddenly falling into steps with her as if they had been walking together all along.

She _didn’t_ startle. Because she was the Slayer and Haymitch had been ranting for two days about how she should _always_ be aware of her surroundings at all times. He liked to repeat she was oblivious. She hated it when he was proven right.

“To talk. I don’t know. Why?” she muttered.

“Rory says you’ve quitted the team because you found a job?” he insisted - like he had more or less every day for the last two weeks.

She got mad and stormed away without even bothering with a lie.

Clearly, boys were _incapable_ of understanding subtle messages though.

Madge arrived early to Biology for once and they were making awkward small talk when Peeta stopped in front of their bench, interrupting them with his greeting. He looked nervous and Katniss frowned.

“Hey again” he said with a smile that seemed a little forced. Katniss frowned. Madge looked from her to him, clearly amused by… Katniss wasn’t sure. Apparently, neither Madge’s amusement nor her own silence mattered because Peeta soldiered on. “I was wondering if you had gotten the text? About the party?”

Katniss wasn’t even sure he was talking to her anymore. She glanced at Madge who helpfully nodded.

“I did.” she confirmed. “But I’m not sure I can come… My parents don’t like me going out after dark and _The Capitol…_ ” She shook her head, her blond curl bouncing around. “I don’t know… Are you going, Katniss?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she admitted because it seemed like the quickest way to put an end to the conversation.

_The Capitol_ was a fancy very posh hotel situated in the middle of a meadow, not too far from the northern border of the woods. She could have saved money for ten years and she was pretty sure she still wouldn’t have had enough to pay for _one_ night. It was for wealthy tourists who came to hike in the woods and the surrounding mountains.

“Oh…” Peeta exclaimed, half-relieved and half-disappointed. “We sent a text to _everyone_. It’s an open invite party… Glimmer’s dad rented _The Capitol_ for the night on Saturday… I was hoping… I mean… I could be your ride. If you need one.”

“A party?” she repeated, stunned. She had never gone to any party. She was never _invited_ to any party.

“I mean, like I said, it’s open to everyone… You can come with whoever you want…” Peeta rambled on. “Are you coming with Hawthorne, then? You two are going out, right?”

“Going out?” she kept repeating, feeling like a dumb parrot. “With _Gale_?”

“So… You’re _not_?” he insisted.

Katniss had never been so relieved to see their Biology Teacher. Miss Tigris might have been extremely weird but she was still _less_ weird than this conversation.

“I could drive if you want to go and you don’t want Peeta to pick you up.” Madge offered. “I’m pretty sure my parents might let me go if I tell them I am going with a friend… Besides, with all those people disappearing… It would be safer to stick together, don’t you think?”

She was a little too shocked at having been called Madge’s _friend_ to react in time.

Madge looked too hopeful, like she _really_ wanted to go. Katniss had zero interest in going to a party at all but she couldn’t find it in her to crush her dreams after being called her _friend_. So she said she would think about it.

She was so angry and frustrated that it was actually a relief to direct all that at dummies during training. All the vampires were very sorry to have crossed her path that night during patrol.

Haymitch actually _praised_ her. 

Well, he said _‘Good job, sweetheart’_   but it was the best she had gotten so far. Not that she cared what he thought about her but… Yeah. It was good to know her Watcher believed at least _a little_ in her.

Of course, that feeling of satisfaction didn’t last long. The next morning, Madge stopped next to her locker while she was talking with Gale – awkwardly avoiding more questions. She introduced them because she couldn’t remember if they knew each other or not and then she regretted it when Madge immediately asked if she had thought about going to the party the next day.

“You’re going to Mellark’s party?” Gale scoffed in utter disbelief.

“It’s not Peeta’s party, it’s Glimmer’s.” she corrected through clenched teeth. Gale had been hitting on her nerves for days at this point. He was her best friend but he was also being a pain, refusing to respect boundaries she was trying to put in place for his own safety.

“Oh, sorry… It’s _Peeta_ now?” he mocked.

“Why are you like that?” she snapped. “He didn’t do anything to you.”

Gale stared at her, gaping a little, and then he chuckled. “You’re _joking_ , right?” She was being totally serious and her face must have reflected that because he sighed. “You can be so blind sometimes…”

“And you’re a pain in the ass.” she snapped, shut her locker door and stormed away to her Math class, grumbling under her breath.

Her mood wasn’t uplifted by the fact Peeta tried to catch her eyes at several points during the day. She was so desperate to avoid both boys that she lingered in the classroom after her History lesson.

Haymitch studied her for a second, closed the classroom door and sat down on the desk next to hers. “Spill.”

Katniss’ scowl only deepened. “Why are boys so stupid?”

That clearly wasn’t what her mentor had been expecting. Maybe he had thought she had found something demonic. Too bad. It was just about her sucky life.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ceiling with a sigh. “That’s something about taking care of teenage girls I haven’t missed… Katniss, let’s make something clear. I ain’t gonna advise you on your boys troubles.”

“You don’t advise me on much.” she complained. “Mostly you shout and insult me. You’re _sure_ you passed your Watcher degree or whatever?” She made a face. “And it’s not _boys troubles_. It’s just my stupid best friend who’s upset because that other boy – who I kind of owe ‘cause he gave me bread one time or two – invited me to a stupid party.”

“Your best friend likes the boy?” he asked in a long-suffering tone. “That qualifies as boys troubles.”

“My best friend is Gale. You know, Hazelle’s son. And he _hates_ Peeta for whatever reason.” she explained. “Try to keep up.”

He glared at her a little but, mostly, he looked amused. “Your best friend _who’s a boy_ is upset because _another boy_ invited you to a party and you can’t figure out why? Maybe I _do_  need to give you some advice after all, sweetheart…” He waved his hand. “You’re not going to the party anyway. You’ve got to patrol. Problem solved.”

“Yeah, but that’s not that easy.” she retorted, ignoring that last part. Nobody had said he was in charge of what she did or didn’t do outside of slaying duties and she didn’t like the thought he believed himself _entitled_ to refuse her the permission to go out. “‘Cause my only other friend aside from Gale…”

“Boy or girl?” he cut her off.

“Girl. Madge.” she clarified before going on. “ _She_ wants to go and her parents won’t let her unless I go with her… So, you see, I think I should go even if I really don’t care about a stupid open-invite party…”

He must have been getting bored with the conversation because he startled. “What did you say?”

“About which part?” she deadpanned. She was pretty sure he wasn’t that interested in her life problems. He was barely interested in her when it wasn’t about training. “I guess you’re right anyway. I don’t have time to go to a party.”

“You’re going to the party.” he argued.

She frowned. “Can you make up your mind? You just said…”

“Open invite?” he scoffed.

“Peeta said they sent a text to everyone…” she confirmed. “It’s open to all.”

He was watching her, waiting for her to make a connection. When she didn’t, he rolled his eyes. “Fangs included? They need permission to enter a private place but an open invitation will do the trick just as well and the town’s crammed with them… They won’t resist that kind of free buffet.”

He really didn’t look pleased about that. 

“It’s at _The Capitol.”_  She waited to see if he knew what that was and when he nodded, she went on. “They could have gotten in anyway. A hotel isn’t private property, right?”

“Right.” he sighed. “Still. Now we know… You’ve got to go. Sacred duty to protect the innocents and all that jazz…”

He didn’t seem pleased about that either.

“Don’t look so glum. I can handle a few vampires.” she grumbled.

“Without me as back-up?” he challenged. “We’re gonna have to hope so, yeah? Cause I don’t think I can blend in with teenagers. Congrats, sweetheart, you’re going on your first solo mission. Try not to set yourself on fire, this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She's going on her first solo mission!!!! Are you excited? Are you scared? On a scale of one to Hunger Games 10 how bad do you think it will be? Do you feel for Haymitch having to play heart consellor? Let me know your thoughts!


	4. Chapter 4

It didn’t occur to Katniss that wearing the same worn-off pants and threadbare long-sleeve shirt she had been wearing all day to a party was probably not the norm until Madge’s car stopped next to the curb and she spotted the raspberry pink frilly dress the other girl was wearing. She had told her friend to meet her near the school because she didn’t want Madge to come to the trailer park. First because Haymitch had been making her even more paranoid than she already was and then because Madge, for all her social awkwardness and lack of a clique, was the mayor’s daughter and Katniss was a little ashamed to let her see just how bad her home was.

“Am I overdressed?” Madge asked as soon as Katniss climbed in her car.

The girl looked nervous. Katniss supposed she hadn’t been to more parties than she had. Madge usually kept to herself at school.

“I think I’m the one who’s underdressed, don’t worry.” she told her. “You look pretty.”

“Thanks.” her friend beamed. “I love your hair.”

Katniss reached for the complicated braids pinned close to her skull with ambivalent feelings. It was one of those days when Aster remembered she was their mother and, upon learning she was going out, she had insisted on doing her hair. Prim had been so happy to see their mom up that Katniss hadn’t protested, knowing that her sister would inevitably be crushed later when she would give in to the depression again.

“Thanks.” she muttered.

It didn’t matter that she wasn’t dressed to impress. She was going only to make sure no vampires crashed the party and that was the only thing that counted. The pants were loose enough to conceal two stakes and, per Haymitch’s instructions, she had a knife strapped to her ankle. She would have felt better if she had been able to bring her bow but, as her Watcher had pointed out, it wouldn’t have been very inconspicuous.

“Here.” Madge said suddenly, taking off a golden pin from her dress. “Wear this.” Katniss tried to protest but her friend wouldn’t hear of it. “No, take it. Keep it, even. It’s my aunt’s.”

The round pin was shaped like a bird perched on an arrow. She wasn’t much for jewelry but it was pretty and it _did_ make her outfit a little less shabby.

“Won’t she mind?” she asked.

Madge started the car, apparently not in any hurry to look at her anymore. “She died.”

“Oh… Sorry.” she winced. “I can’t keep it, then. You should…”

“I want you to have it.” Madge insisted. “For luck.” The girl glanced at her with a brave smile. “A token of friendship.”

Katniss smiled back.

The car drive was less awkward than she had feared it would be. She wasn’t a great talker and neither was Madge usually but her friend looked both really nervous and really excited by the prospect of a party. From what she said and didn’t say, Katniss concluded her parents were _really_ strict about letting her out at night but, given what she now knew, she didn’t see how it was bad. She had been very strict with Prim about the hours she kept too lately.

“Is your friend Gale coming?” Madge asked as they drove down the long narrow road that led to the hotel. The woods stretched on either side of the car and, despite herself, Katniss peered at the darkness outside in case…

Haymitch had been trying to hone her detection skills. She was very good at hunting, which helped, but _this_ wasn’t about tracks, this was about her reaching out with a sixth sense she wasn’t sure really existed and determining how many vampires were around her and _where_. She sucked at vampire detection. She was pretty sure she didn’t have that sixth sense he kept berating her about.

“No clue.” Gale hadn’t been in touch and she hadn’t gone out of her way to contact him either. She was still a bit miffed. And the fact that he seemed to use his little brother as a source of information wasn’t helping matter. She had told Prim not to talk to Rory about her but she could tell her sister had been a little confused by the unusual request.

“Can I ask…” Madge hesitated. “Are you and Gale… _together_?”

“No.” she protested at once. “Why does everyone _think_ that?”

Madge glanced at her and back at the road. She was going ten miles under the speed limit. She was either a careful driver or she wasn’t sure she really wanted to arrive to that party. The closer they got to the Capitol, the strongest Katniss already regretted making the decision to go. The prospect of being stuck in a place packed with people she didn’t know and who would only be concerned with getting drunk or getting laid wasn’t a fun one.

_Vampires_ , she reminded herself.

“He’s… He’s a little in love with you, Katniss.” the girl offered frankly. “Haven’t you noticed?”

“He’s _not_.” she scoffed. “We’ve been friends for years.”

Madge laughed but she didn’t think the girl was making fun of her. “And I thought I was bad with people… Peeta is in love with you too, for the record.”

“Peeta isn’t in love with me. He’s just… _weird_.” she corrected.

Madge’s smile was knowing but she shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

The huge imposing hotel appeared around a corner of the road. Every window was lit, they could hear the music over the sound of the engine, the air seemed to pulse with its beat… The building shone like a beacon in the darkness.

There would be vampires alright. 

“Listen.” she urged as Madge looked for a parking spot. “Be careful tonight, okay? Don’t follow anyone you don’t know and _don’t_ let anyone take you to the woods.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Her friend flashed her a smile. “I’m always careful. You should be careful too.”

Katniss nodded her agreement and squeezed her hand with a feeling of foreboding far too strong to be dismissed. She had felt the same thing when she had left Haymitch’s house earlier. He had walked her all the way to the end of the driveway. He had reached for her, then, but had aborted the gesture at the last second. She had wondered if he had wanted to hug her and had given up on it just because it felt too much like a goodbye.

But she _would_ be fine, she told herself firmly as she got off the car. She couldn’t die tonight because she had promised Prim she would take her out to the mall in the morning. Her clothes were becoming too small and she had a little extra-cash because slaying vampires, at least, paid well – or _Haymitch_ paid her well but she had decided she didn’t want to look at that too closely or she would have been forced to refuse, somehow he always seemed to know when she needed money. 

It seemed like the whole school and then some was there.

A few people were scattered in the meadow that stretched around the hotel, laughing and joking together, clutching red cups.

The music, the sound of voices, the number of people… It _aggressed_ her. It was like slamming against an invisible wall. _Repeatedly_.

It was worse inside. The hotel was huge but people remained packed together, crowding the large rooms and making it impossible to turn without bumping into someone. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to find vampires in the middle of this. She tried the sixth sense thing but her other five senses were already overloaded so…

There was a dancefloor in one of the rooms and it was even more crowded than the rest of the place.

Never before had she asked herself what she was doing there so many times in such a short amount of time.

“I don’t think I like parties after all.” Madge told her – _shouted_ to be heard over the music, really.

She could relate.

They awkwardly hung out with their backs to one of the walls, watching the other teenagers with no idea of what they should have been doing. That was how Katniss noticed the girl flirting with one of the guys from the football team.

Something was _off_ with her.

She looked too old to be there and there was something to the way she moved…

Katniss frowned and watched her. When the girl gestured she wanted to go outside, the guy immediately nodded with an eager smile. Katniss mumbled a hurried excuse to Madge about how she needed to go to the bathroom and followed at a distance. _This,_ she knew how to do. It wasn’t too different from hunting.

The vampire didn’t bother dragging her prey too far into the surrounding woods, which made it easier for Katniss. The girl had pushed the boy against a trunk and they were kissing. Neither of them noticed her when she slipped behind them, regretting the absence of her bow. She could have taken her from afar and without breaking a sweat.

The vampire _did_ notice when she tapped on her shoulder though. She looked behind her in reflex and Katniss punched her before the vampire realized what was going on.

“Hey!” the guy protested.

“Get out of here.” Katniss ordered.

He grabbed her arm. “Who do you think…”

The growl coming from the forest ground got his attention and, when he caught a glimpse of the demonic face in the darkness, he let her go and ran away without even looking back.

“You’re going to regret this…” the vampire warned.

“Yeah, that’s what they always say…” Katniss sighed.

It didn’t take her long to dispatch her but, on her way back, she found another vampire. A guy, this time, steering a clueless cheerleader toward the back of the hotel where there weren’t any people who would interrupt them. That one didn’t give her much trouble either but she was covered in dust when she found her way back to Madge, against the very same wall she had left her.

“What happened?” her friend asked.

“I fell.” she lied.

“On your way to the bathroom?” Madge’s eyebrows lifted up and Katniss reluctantly admitted Haymitch had a point when he claimed she was a bad liar. Fortunately, she didn’t seem too interested to know what Katniss had really been up to. “I saw Peeta, he was looking for you. He’s over there with Cato…”

A chill ran down her spine.

“Cato?” she repeated.

Madge nodded. “He’s back, apparently. Weird, right? After more than two weeks…”

_Weird_ didn’t cover it.

She searched the crowd until she spotted them next to one of the bay windows, both of them clutching a red cup. Peeta was nodding at whatever Cato was telling him, a serious expression on his face.

She took a step toward them, not sure how she was going to attract Cato out of there but certain she needed to do something _now_ , when someone grabbed her arm. She spun around and it was a good thing Gale had reflexes because he avoided her punch but stared at her like she had grown a second head.

“What is it with you and wanting to hit me lately?” he grumbled.

“Maybe if you were less of an ass…” she retorted. “What are you doing here?”

Gale’s face closed off. “It’s an open invite party. I thought I’d check it out.”

“You hate parties.” she pointed out.

“So do you. Or so I thought.” he snapped. “But what do I know, I’m not captain of the wrestling team…”

He was captain of the archery team – a spot that should have been _hers_ because she was better than he was – and she didn’t see how it was relevant. The mention of Peeta reminded her that she had a mission that _wasn’t_ arguing with Gale though. She turned back toward the windows but the spot where Peeta and Cato had been standing was empty. She looked around frantically but she couldn’t see them everywhere.

“Where’s Peeta?” she asked.

“Are you _serious?”_   Gale scoffed but she ignored him.

“He went outside with Cato.” Madge offered. Her blue eyes darted between Katniss and Gale and then she cleared her throat. “Do you want to dance?”

It seemed to have taken all her courage to ask.

Gale was still staring at Katniss with an intensity she couldn’t explain to herself. In the end, an hurt expression on his face, he grabbed Madge’s hand and tugged her toward the dancefloor. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I do.”

“Stay inside!” she shouted to them.

She wasn’t sure if they heard but she didn’t have time to make sure. She dashed outside but there was no trace of Peeta or Cato anywhere. She asked the people who were smoking and drinking in the meadow but it took her at least five minutes to find someone coherent enough to point her in the right direction.

Cato already had ten minutes on her.

She tried not to dwell on the fact that ten minutes was all a vampire needed to bleed someone dry.

She tore through the woods at a jog without bothering with discretion. She _liked_ Peeta, she was annoyed to realize. Sure, he was wealthier than her and there was the whole _charity_ thing but… Peeta had _always_ been nice to her, even when _she_ hadn’t been, and she liked him. She wouldn’t have said they were friends but she wouldn’t have called Madge a friend either until she had said it first so what did she know?

Well, she _did_ know she really didn’t like the idea of her friends becoming vampire snacks. 

Somewhere up ahead, a boy screamed.

It was good, she told herself, if Peeta could scream then he was still alive.

When she found them, Cato was wearing his game face, yellow eyes and fangs all accounted for, and Peeta was trying to keep him at a distance by waving a big branch. His neck was bleeding but so was Cato’s nose.

“Katniss, get away!” Peeta panicked when he saw her. “He’s… He’s some kind of _monster_!”

“You always were a little _prick_.” Cato spat. “I can’t believe I was going to turn you.”

That made Katniss’ blood run cold.

She liked the thought of Peeta turning into a vampire even less than she liked the idea of him becoming a snack.

“Run!” Peeta screamed again, waving his branch like a club. “I’ll buy you time!”

Cato grabbed the branch with a sigh, as if it was a huge inconvenience, and tore it out of Peeta’s hands, making him lose his balance. Katniss jumped in between them and hurled the vampire against a tree with a flying kick, pulling her stake from the small of her back at the same time.

“Now, you’re making me angry…” Cato growled.

He had rolled from his fall into a crouch and he pounced on her without giving her time to regroup or think. He was on the wrestling team with Peeta and it _showed_. Instinct and her relentless training with Haymitch gave her a small edge but he had years of practice she didn’t have. It only took her two minutes to figure out it would be a difficult fight and it wasn’t helped at all by the knowledge that Peeta was hovering nearby, waiting for an opening to enter the fray.

She didn’t need him to get hurt on top of everything.

“Get out of here!” she shouted at him and the second of distraction cost her dearly.

Cato’s backhand slap sent her flying in the air and she hit a tree with a huff. She was pretty sure it would have broken a normal person’s back. She was just a little stiff and sore when she got back to her feet.

“What _are_ you?” Cato hissed, watching her a little more warily.

Preys who wouldn’t stay down weren’t common, she supposed.

“She’s the one who has been killing my minions after I went to _a lot_ of troubles to find pretty ones.”

The woman came out of the trees on their right with two other vampires in tow. She was strikingly beautiful. Blond hair held away from her face with multiples tiny braids, blue eyes, fair skin and a pretty black dress that must have been very expensive.

Katniss suddenly understood what Haymitch meant by _vampire senses_ because _that_ one triggered them all. The thingling at the base of her nape was driving her crazy. And she was certain, without knowing how, that the woman was powerful and old and probably much more than she could take.

Cato had fallen back with an odd sort of deference at the vampire’s entrance and Peeta immediately rushed to Katniss’ side, the makeshift club back in his hands as if it really could be useful against any of the four vampires.

“What the _hell_?” he whispered.

“Vampires.” she supplied, fishing her spare stake out of her pocket and handing it out to him.

He stared at it, then back at her. “You’re joking.”

“I wish.” She tried to add some bravado to her voice but the truth was that she was terrified. When the woman moved, everything seemed to _flow_. A little like Haymitch when he really bothered to fight but also a lot more graceful than anything her mentor could ever hope to achieve. That vampire was a warrior. Katniss tilted her chin up stubbornly and adjusted her grip on her stake. “Who are you?”

She would have told Peeta to run if she had thought it would help but, while she was pretty sure the woman wouldn’t go after him, Cato and the two other vampires probably _would_.

“Your death. _Slayer_.” the woman mocked.

A tilt of her head and the two vampires at her side rushed to Katniss. Those didn’t have Cato’s skills and were probably still pretty new. She dispatched the first one with a few kicks and one good hit to the chest. The second one used that time to attack Peeta but his branch and his clumsy attempts at stabbing him in the heart had slowed the vampire down enough that Katniss could hit him from behind while he was distracted.

Then, of course, Cato jumped on her from the side and she was back to trying to contain him and keep an eye on the woman at the same time.

“You _are_ a pretty one. And strong too.” the old vampire purred at Peeta. “I might keep you…”

Irritation gave Katniss the boost she needed and she used a turning kick to send Cato flying straight into the woman.

“Run!” she screamed to Peeta while the two vampires were still busy trying to untangle themselves and get up. She didn’t leave him a choice, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. There were crashing noises behind them and she just knew Cato and the strange vampire were hot on their heels. They emerged out of the woods panting but Katniss didn’t slow down, not until they had reached the lights flooding out of the hotel’s windows.

The music was still loud and deafening, people were still laughing and dancing inside… Here, in the meadow, nothing had changed.

She came to an abrupt stop and whirled around, forcing Peeta to turn with her because she still had a deadly grip on his wrist. She half expected to see the blonde vampire stroll out of the woods and straight to them but nobody walked out from between the trees. Everything was calm. As if nothing at all had happened.

They remained there, frozen, for several minutes, and then the stake Peeta was still clutching with his free hand fell to the ground in a dull sound. “I guess it’s really _not_ like _Twilight…_ ”

“Katniss!” Gale called out.

She turned her head in time to see her best friend striding toward her, Madge right behind him. They were both looking at them with wide frightened eyes but Madge started running before Gale because the boy’s eyes had locked on the fingers coiled around Peeta’s wrist. 

“You’re hurt!” Madge gasped, reaching for her cheek. And now that she said it and that the adrenaline was coming down, Katniss’ cheekbone started throbbing. So did her shoulder for that matter. She had landed badly on it.

“ _What did you do to her_?” Gale hissed with a fury Katniss had never heard coming from him.

Before she could react, Peeta’s arm had been torn from her grip. Gale had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and had slammed him against the outer wall of the hotel. The commotion attracted attention and a few boys started shouting “ _Fight! Fight! Fight_!” like it was some sort of game.

“Let me go.” Peeta demanded.

“Let him go.” Katniss seconded in a tone that broke no argument.

Gale tossed her an incredulous look. “Are you kidding me? Did you see yourself? I swear if he _touched_ you I…”

“Peeta didn’t hurt me.” she snapped. She wedged herself in between them and shoved Gale back. “Stop being an idiot.”

Gale stared at her, ran his hand in his hair and then scoffed. “Yeah. I guess I’m the idiot for coming to this stupid party in the first place.”

He stormed away before she could even try to answer that.

“That’s the second time you save me tonight. I feel like a damsel in distress.” Peeta commented behind her. And then he was laughing and there was a hysterical tinge to it that made Katniss wince.

“You need to go to the hospital.” Madge said quietly. “ _Both_ of you.” 

“No, I’m fine.” she denied. “I need to…” _Find Haymitch and tell him about the blond vampire_. But what was she going to do with Peeta? The boy was still laughing. She was pretty sure Cato hadn’t drunk enough from him to make the blood loss dangerous but there were scrapes on his face and she didn’t trust him not to spill everything to the first person he saw – namely Madge. She needed to make him swear that he would keep silent. “Peeta, do you have a car? I’ll drive you home.”

He nodded, still laughing, and Katniss rolled his eyes at him. She hadn’t been _that_ hysterical when she had found herself face to face with vampires.

“You should go home too.” she told Madge.

She didn’t want to leave her friend alone when vampires were around. Hell, she didn’t want to leave _anyone_ when vampires were around but she needed to _regroup_. Playing it clever had always been the plan. _Survive_ was rule number one. She was certain she wouldn’t survive a fight against the blond vampire.

Madge, fortunately, didn’t even discuss it. They all headed to the parking lot. Peeta had stopped laughing but he still occasionally chuckled to himself like a mad person. He handed her the keys of his SUV and she faltered for a moment because the car looked brand new and far too big. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She sat behind the wheel, fumbled around with the seat because Peeta was too tall and she could barely reach the pedals as it was, and waited until he had strapped himself in before turning the ignition on.

The car moved two feet and then stalled.

She started the engine again without looking at Peeta.

After three attempts, the car kept on stalling and they weren’t even out of the parking lot but at least Peeta had stopped chuckling.

“Do you know how to drive?” he asked.

There was no judgment but there was some fondness as if she was currently doing something particularly cute. She had no clue what could be going through his head and she wasn’t going to admit she had never learned how to drive.

“How hard can it be?” she retorted.

He smiled a soft smile and shook his head. “Let’s switch seats. I’m good to drive now.”

She eyed the wound on his neck dubiously but he looked calmer and alert so she shrugged her acceptance.

“Can you drop me at Haymitch’s?” she asked once they were driving down the road that led back into town.

“Haymitch?” he frowned.

“Mr Abernathy.” she clarified.

That gave him more pause than the vampire thing had earlier and, for a second, she was scared he would start laughing again. “The History teacher? Why do you want to go to our History teacher’s house in the middle of the night?”

“Because he’s my Watcher.” she sighed.

He was silent for a few minutes and then winced and shrugged. “Yeah, no… I can turn that sentence around in my head, the only way it’s making sense is creepy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Look, it’s complicated. He’s helping me with the…”

She let her sentence trail off, not sure she wanted to set him off again. And maybe he wanted to pretend none of this had happened. She would understand. People developed incredible powers of persuasion in that sort of situations.

“ _Vampires_.” he finished. “Who are _real_.” She remained silent and he must have taken that for a confirmation that he wasn’t crazy because he continued. “She called you _slayer_ … And you took down those _vampires_ … And _when_ did you learn to fight like _that_? And how long has this been going on?”

Katniss sighed and slid down her seat a little.

So much for secrecy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So they _did_ survive! But now Peeta knows... How do you think he will deal with that? Does Madge know more than she lets on? Will Haymitch kill Katniss when he learns she failed to keep her cover? Who is the blond vampire? So many questions! Did you have fun? Let me know all your thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

Haymitch’s hands were shaking but he _wasn’t_ going to drink.

He paced the length of the kitchen, staring at the phone when he wasn’t staring at the clock or at the half-full bottles of moonshine lining the counter.

She should have been back by now. Or she should have called. 

_He shouldn’t have sent her out there alone. She wasn’t ready._

But they were _never_ ready. And he had always had troubles letting them head into danger alone. He didn’t believe in patting his Slayer’s back and shoving her in the direction of danger. He believed in having her back, in being out there with her, in keeping them as safe as he could…

But he couldn’t hold her hand forever and it was a simple enough mission. Go to a party, kill a few lone vampires who would inevitably be attracted by the young and excited teenagers… It wasn’t _that_ dangerous. She was capable of doing it. He knew she was. Just like she could have taken over patrolling on her own by now.

He was training her, he had taught her the basics, it was time to give her some leeway, to let her fly…

_But some baby birds needed more time than others and what if…_

He stared at the phone, willing it to ring and dreading it in the same breath. The Council would call if another Slayer awoke somewhere else. At least if it was one of the known Potentials, if it was a rogue one it might take longer to figure it out. Coin in person would tell him because the Head of The Council always informed the Watcher. Out of courtesy. It would only be the sixth time that happened in twenty years. No biggie.

And it wasn’t like he really cared about the kid.

He had known her two weeks. No time to get attached at all. She was irritating anyway, not at all lovable. Not like Annie. Not like Cecelia. Not even like Jo because Jo’s punk attitude had been endearing somehow. Katniss was annoying and self-centered – or sister-centered rather – and brash and reckless and he wasn’t attached to her at all.

No, he wasn’t.

_Fuck it all_.

He stopped pacing and headed straight for the trunk full of good weapons he kept in the living-room – he kept one in every room, really, even the bathroom because there was nothing more awkward than demons attacking the house when you were _busy_ in there; true story, Jo had laughed at him for _hours_ afterwards. He would go to _The Capitol_ and he would test the water. If he found his missing Slayer, he would _kill_ her himself. If he didn’t, he would look for her until he found her and then could kill her himself.

The noise of an engine coming down the street made him switch targets fast. His hand flew to the hilt of the knife he always kept at the small of his back and he marched toward the front door.

Nobody ever came up here unless they had business with him. Or unless they were demons. He wasn’t in the mood for demons.

By the time he had tossed the front door open, the car was lining up the curb in front of his house. The headlights blinded him and he lifted his hand to shield his eyes. Then, of course, he caught sight of Katniss’ familiar figure hopping out of the SUV and he _finally_ allowed himself to _breathe._

She almost _ran_ all the way up to the door and he could tell she was spooked by something but his eyes soon darted to the boy hesitantly trailing after her. A boy who looked like he had been in some brawl and who had a distinctive wound on his neck.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess you’ve blown rule number two.” he sneered at her.

She sneered right back but it was lacking her usual fire. She looked tired and frightened. _Small_. There was an impressive bruise forming on her cheek and she was holding her left arm close to her body. He gripped her chin between his fingers, ignoring her instinctive flinch, and tilted her head to the side so he could see better in the dim light coming from inside. Whatever had happened, it had been a bad fight. He brushed his fingers against the bruise in something that _wasn’t_ an affectionate gesture because he _didn’t_ care about her _at all_.

“Good job at following rule number one.” he whispered with far less casualness than he would have liked.

He stepped aside to let her in and then gestured at the boy to follow her in with a sharp jerk of his chin. The kid didn’t look any better than his Slayer did.

He sat them down in the kitchen and got the first aid kit out while they told him what had happened. The boy – Peeta, as the kid helpfully reminded him even though he had been sitting in his class for two weeks – did most of the talking, he couldn’t help but notice as he cleaned and bandaged the puncture wounds on his neck.

He was taking the whole vampire thing pretty well all things considered.

Haymitch decided he could take care of the various scrapes on his face and hands himself and turned to Katniss to take care of her own injuries. The girl had curled up on one of the kitchen chairs, legs hugged tight to her chest with her good arm, with a forlorn expression on her face. She didn’t fight him off when he started smearing some cream on her cheek. The bone might have been broken, he wasn’t sure. She would heal more quickly than a normal human though so it didn’t warrant a trip to the ER.

He had been more focused on her injury than on the detailed tale of her apparently _epic_ battle with that missing-kid-turned-vampire – the boy clearly had a bad case of hero worship and/or a deep crush on her. Then Peeta mentioned a blond woman who gave him the creep. And Katniss flinched.

“What?” he asked her.

Katniss’ face hardened into her usual stubbornness before suddenly deflating into something a lot more fragile. “I think she was a Master.”

“There are no more Masters in this part of the country.” he countered. “The last one was banished to a hell dimension after… Well, he was banished. I was there. If there was a Master around, we’d know, sweetheart, trust me. They’re not subtle with the _I want to destroy the world every other Sunday_ routine.”

She shook her head. “She was old, Haymitch. And… She was powerful. I didn’t even fight her and I know that she could have killed me without breaking a sweat.”

He took that in strides. “Old doesn’t mean she’s a Master. Masters were born directly from the old demons. Sure, she could have been _sired_ by a Master but…”

“You keep telling me to listen to my instinct. I’m telling you.” she cut him off. “That one’s dangerous.”

“Okay.” he said quietly. “ _Okay_. I believe you. It doesn’t mean we can’t kill her, it just means we have to be careful about it. If she’s old, she’s probably mentioned somewhere in the Watchers journals. Did you get a name or something that could help identify her?”

She shook her head no. “She knew I was the Slayer.”

“Most vampires who weren’t born yesterday would recognize a Slayer on sight, sweetheart.” he commented. “But that does tend to prove she knows her stuff.”

“You don’t have your happy teacher face on.” Peeta pointed out. “How bad can it get?”

“Haymitch doesn’t _have_ a happy teacher face.” Katniss grumbled. “And I told you in the car you should just go home and forget everything.”

“I _do_ have a happy teacher face. Students who confuse World War One and World War Two just don’t get to see it.” Haymitch argued with a pointed look.

She rolled her eyes. “You can’t expect me to pass a test when you keep me up until two am to chase vampires through a cemetery the night before.”

He elected to ignore that to address the main problem. “She’s right, kid. You should go home and forget.”

Peeta, not entirely unexpectedly, frowned. “But I want to _help_.”

“It’s too dangerous.” Haymitch declared firmly. “Look, I know…”

“No, you _don’t_.” the boy cut him off. “If you think I will let Katniss risk her life alone, you’re _wrong_. I _can_ be useful.”

“Unless you’ve got magic powers or supernatural strength you didn’t tell us about…” he mocked.

“How about a picture of that vampire?” Peeta retorted.

Haymitch opened his mouth and then closed it. “ _Did_ you take a picture of that vampire?”

He couldn’t imagine anyone being that stupid in the middle of a fight but in this era of cell phones and selfies and what not, he wouldn’t have sworn it was impossible. Although it was unlikely given the way Katniss was looking at the other kid.

“No.” Peeta answered with a touch of smugness. “But I can draw her. And I can help you look afterwards.”

Three people wouldn’t be too few to go through all the journals… And there was no harm in letting him do that, he supposed. As long as the boy didn’t get involved in anything more physical…

“Fine.” he spat, fetching a notepad from one of the kitchen drawer and tossing it on the table. “Turn around and start drawing. And, Katniss, take that shirt off so I can check your shoulder.” He glared at the boy. “I catch you peeking, you’re gonna be sorry that vampire didn’t finish you off, we’re clear?”

“I wouldn’t!” Peeta scoffed, clearly offended by the very notion.

“Draw. Then we hit the library.” he grumbled.

“You have a library?” she frowned. And he figured he had never showed her the room full of old volumes that would have been enough to give anyone nightmares. Some of them were from his own collection, others he had inherited along with the house…

Katniss tried to slip her shirt off with difficulties – and it was a good thing she was wearing a sport bra or it would have made it more awkward for both of them – and that was when the pin caught his eyes. For a second, the kitchen seemed to spin under his feet.

“Where did you get that?” he barked, reaching for the familiar golden bird.

Katniss recoiled, pressing a hand over the pin so he couldn’t grab it. “It was a gift. What’s your problem?”

A gift?

_A coincidence,_ he told himself. _Just_ a coincidence. There were probably a lot of those pins around. It might not be the same one. His memories might not even be that reliable. It had been twenty years ago, after all.

But the mention of a Master vampire and now _that_ pin? The last time he had seen it, it had been tainted rusty with blood.

A coincidence. _Just_ a coincidence.

“Nothing.” he grumbled. He glanced at Peeta whose back was still turned to them. “Hurry up with that drawing, boy.”

“You can’t rush an artist.” the kid replied.

Katniss was still watching him with mistrust but she finally freed her injured shoulder from her shirt and let him probe and poke at the ugly bruise forming underneath. It wasn’t dislocated, which was good, but it was swollen, which wasn’t. That trip to the ER might not have been off the table after all.

“We’ll figure it out.” He applied a generous amount of cream on the bruises and hoped for the best. If it wasn’t better in a couple of hours, he would take her to the hospital. “It will be fine, sweetheart.”

“You’re the one always saying I should be ready to die.” she pointed out. She forced her arm back into the sleeve of the shirt with clenched teeth. “Now I get why.” She shot him a glare. “But if I die you _can’t_ forget your promise. You said you would…”

He barely registered the sound of breaking glass but shielding her with his body was instinctive. It turned out not to have been such a bad idea because a paving stone bounced not too far from them, leaving a dent on the wood of the kitchen table. And a draft through the broken window Peeta immediately rushed to.

“Don’t get too close!” Haymitch ordered, already reaching for the stock of stakes he kept in one of the drawers. Katniss had drawn the one she had on her but she was also inspecting the projectile.

Peeta took a few precipitated steps back. “Katniss said they couldn’t come in unless you invite them in!”

“Doesn’t mean they can’t grab you and drag you out.” he deadpanned, carefully nearing the window. He couldn’t see anything outside. Nothing was moving. Not that it meant anything.

“Haymitch.” Katniss’ voice was frail.

By the time he turned around, Peeta had already crossed the room to her side to place a supportive hand on her shoulder. She was holding a crumpled paper stained with blood that had probably be wrapped around the stone.

There were the kids with their selfies and there were the vampires with their archaic methods.

“I have the thing you love most.” she read out loud. “Midnight at the Hanging Tree.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Peeta frowned.

“Prim…” she breathed out and, before Haymitch could do anything to stop her, she was rushing out of the kitchen. Peeta grabbed her around the waist just before she reached the front door. “Let me go!”

The hit on his kidney couldn’t have been anything but painful and the boy did let her go but Haymitch was right there this time, bodily blocking her path.

“Stop and _think_ , sweetheart.” he urged her. “That might be their plan. Maybe they’re out there, waiting for you to come out so they can jump on you.”

“Or maybe they’ve got Prim.” she hissed.

She took a step closer to the door, he lifted both hands in front of him as much to keep her at a distance as to put another obstacle between her and the outside world. Ridiculous as it was. Nothing would stop a Slayer who wanted out of a room.

“ _How_?” he insisted. “You came straight here. They followed you _here_. They’ve got no clue where you live.” He was _finally_ getting to her, he could see it. Realization was dawning in her eyes as the tension slowly left her shoulders. “They’ve got _zero_ clue you’ve got a sister. All they know about you is that you’re the Slayer. You’re…”

Peeta made a strangled noise and they both turned to look at him, tension rising another notch. “You said when you become a vampire you keep your memories? So… They’re the same people?”

“They lose their souls.” Haymitch explained, taking pain to keep his voice patient because it wouldn’t take much to make Katniss explode and he was a little too scared of what would happen when she did. “They’re demons in your friends or your family’s bodies. But, yeah, they remember when they were human, they just don’t care. _Yeah_.”

“Okay, so…” Peeta winced. “Cato… He knows about Katniss… And Prim… Because… We were good friends and…”

And the kid had a crush on the girl, which meant he had talked about her at length with him.

“ _Shit_.” he spat, his eyes darting back to Katniss. “Okay. Okay. We go to your place but we’re clever about it, sweetheart. You follow my lead.”

“Not anymore.” she hissed.

And with that ominous statement, she was out the door. She took off at a run and nothing attacked her but he still cursed and forgot about even trying to grab more weapons before following.

Peeta was already running to his car so Haymitch followed. They caught up with her as she was about to exit the ghost village he lived in. She climbed in the car without a word but glared at Peeta so hard the poor boy flinched and sped up.

“It’s not his fault.” Haymitch said quietly, his voice breaking the tense silence in the car.

“If they found Prim because of him, it _is_.” she snapped.

“There are plenty of people who know about your situation, Katniss.” he pointed out. “Cato could have directed that vampire toward any of them and the end result would have been the same. You want to blame someone, blame the vampires.”

“I’m sorry.” Peeta added pitifully and he _did_ sound sorry. “I didn’t know…”

“No way you could have known.” Haymitch sighed. “This ain’t on you, kid.”

Katniss was biting down on her nails by the time they reached the trailer park. It really was the most miserable part of town. Upturned garbage bins spilling their contents on the streets, sketchy people lurking in the shadows – and not the fangy sort of lurkers either – trailers and little shacks that were barely _decent_ …

He was going to have to do something about that eventually. He had known it was bad from what she _wasn’t_ telling him, he hadn’t known it was _that_ bad.

Katniss jumped out of the car before Peeta had even stopped it properly. Nothing really set the Everdeen’s trailer apart from all the others around it. It looked just as small and in bad shape.

Haymitch was too old and too sober to run after kids with superhuman stamina. He was out of breath by the time he passed the threshold in her wake. The room was small and, aside for a ginger cat that hissed at him, absolutely empty. Katniss had already moved on to the next room, her and her sister’s bedroom, he figured.

“Prim!”

The despair was clear in her voice and Haymitch remained close to the entrance, out of the way. Peeta wisely stayed back too, watching the girl run around the trailer as if her sister was going to jump out of a cupboard screaming _surprise._

“There’s no trace of a fight.” he pointed out between two calls of her sister’s name. “Either they didn’t grab her here or…”

Katniss considered this and then marched into what must have been the other bedroom. This time, Haymitch followed because there was a murderous glint in his Slayer’s eyes. The bedroom was small and there wasn’t much to see aside for a woman asleep in the middle of the bed, clutching the picture of a man he supposed to be Katniss’ father. It wasn’t the way he had been planning on meeting the girl’s mother.

“Mom!” she called, brutally shaking her awake. “Mom! Where’s Prim? What happened here? Mom!”

It took a long time to rouse her and when she did wake up, it was with heavy fluttering eyelids.

Haymitch’s eyes darted to the bedside table and wasn’t surprised to find a collection of pills bottles. Sleeping pills or something equivalent.

“Katniss, you’re back…” the woman muttered in a sluggish tone. “Your friend was looking for you…”

“What friend?” she asked, shaking her some more. “Where’s Prim?”

Haymitch placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She wasn’t controlling herself and he was afraid she would hurt the woman. She glared at him but let her mother go. He didn’t take his hand away.

“He was so polite… He asked if I minded if he waited inside…” Aster mumbled. “Prim said she’d keep him company. I was so tired… My headaches…”

“ _You let him in_?” Katniss screeched.

The woman finally seemed to pick up that something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?” And then she spotted him and she frowned. “Who are you?”

“A friend.” he answered. “Everything’s fine. Go back to sleep.”

It would have been harder for her to wake up completely than to follow that order and he didn’t wait around to see which way she would choose to do it. He guided Katniss back into the main room, squeezing her shoulder when she leaned a little against him.

“She let him in…” she whispered. “She _let him in_.”

“She didn’t know.” he tempered.

“She hardly _ever_ gets up. And the only time she _does_ …” she insisted.

“Katniss.” he said firmly, forcing her to look at him. “Prim is still alive. She’s their hostage.”

And it was a miracle their mother was still alive.

“They want to kill me, why would they keep her alive?” she retorted and then her eyes grew wide. “What if they turn her? I can’t… _I can’t…”_

He wasn’t equipped to deal with crying teenagers so he did the only thing he could think of: he hugged her tight and met Peeta’s desperate gaze over her shoulder.

“You need to finish the drawing and we need to figure out who this vampire is.” he declared. “Once we know who she is, we can figure out how to operate. And _you_ …” He drew Katniss away from him so he could look her in the eyes. “You need to _calm down_. Your sister ain’t dead until we see a body, yeah?”

Her lips were wobbling and she was sniffing but she made an effort to jerk her chin up. “Yeah.”

Now to the battle plan…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being a Watcher is hard, people. And now Prim is misssssssing. Will they find her in time? Let me know your thoughts!


	6. Chapter 6

"This isn’t working out.” Katniss snapped, tossing away the diary she had been skimming through. It hit the table with a soft _thud_ and a cloud of dust.

Haymitch glared at her, like he had glared at her every time she had mistreated one of his precious books so far, but she ignored him. She bolted on her feet and started pacing, too anxious to stay still any longer. At least her shoulder had stopped throbbing sometimes in the early hours of the morning and she could use it again now…

It was probably a good thing the library was so big, it gave her room to walk around and burn some energy. It occupied a whole section of the house, it stretched on two floors and had the tallest rows of bookshelves she had ever seen in her life, all full of obscures tomes and magic volumes. A whole section of it was dedicated to all the journals of previous Watchers – and there were _a lot_ of those journals – and all those dating from the last century or so were currently piled on the huge round table that was at the centre of the ground floor.

The drawing Peeta had finished in a rush, a perfect likeness to the woman they had met in the woods, laid on the table as a reference. But the fact was that they were looking for a needle in a haystack. There _were_ drawings and prints in some of the journals but not of _every_ vampire that had crossed path with the Slayers.

It was now ten in the morning, they had spent half the night bent over those books and she was nowhere closer to figuring out who the vampire was, how to take her out or where her sister was.

And she was sick and tired or reading about dead girls. Those journals were nothing else but paper tombs and one day she would get one of her own.

Which was probably why Haymitch had grabbed the most recent ones. He was strangely reluctant to share anything about his previous charges and since she didn’t want to get a headache trying to decipher his handwriting she hadn’t protested. She had noticed he had spent a lot of time on one particular diary though. _Maysilee Donner_ , the label on the spine said. The dates put her back to around twenty years earlier so she figured she had been one of his first Slayers. For all she knew, he was feeling nostalgic.

The fact remained they were getting nowhere.

“Maybe you should try to get some rest.” Peeta suggested, rubbing his eyes. “If you have to fight tonight…”

“Maybe you should go home.” she retorted. She wasn’t sure why Peeta was still there at all. Haymitch had been hammering the fact that nobody could find out about her inside her head from the start and she was still waiting for him to shout at her about breaking the rules. Instead, he had accepted Peeta’s offer for help without as much as a blink.

“You’ve been here all night.” Haymitch cut in, without the hostility that dripped from her own voice. “You should call your folks, at least.”

“They won’t notice I’m gone.” He opened another journal with renewed determination. “Nobody would miss me if I disappeared.”

Haymitch stared at him a little strangely but then they both went back to reading as if it was really the answer to _anything_.

“This isn’t working.” Katniss snarled again, snatching the crumpled note the vampires had tossed through the window. It was bloodstained. Was it Prim’s? Was she hurt? Was she… Haymitch insisted they would keep her alive but he might very well be lying to keep her calm. “What’s even the _Hanging Tree_?” she scoffed. “She writes that like I should know what it is…”

Haymitch let out a long suffering sigh and, when he spoke, he sounded strangely reluctant. “It’s the only tree in the meadow between _The_ _Capitol_  and the woods.”

“You mean the lightning tree?” Peeta frowned, looking up from his diary.

She stopped pacing in disbelief. “What? The old burned stump?”

The tree had been struck by lightning decades ago. For as long as she could remember, people had been talking about removing it but, somehow, it never got done.

“It wasn’t lightning.” Haymitch explained. After a second, he fished the flask out of his pocket and took a swing. Katniss gritted her teeth and she would have slapped it right out of his hand if he hadn’t put it away after a single mouthful. His voice was steadier but there was a strange note in it. For a moment, she wondered if it was _fear_. “It was magic.”

“Magic is real?” Peeta gaped.

“Really, boy?” her mentor snorted. “Vampires and Slayer don’t throw you but _magic_ does?”

“Hey, I waited for my Hogwarts letter like everybody else.” Peeta joked and then tossed a guilty glance at Katniss. “Sorry. Not a good time for jokes. The tree. Why is it important?”

“It’s not the tree. It’s what is _under_ the tree.” Haymitch mumbled. He looked exhausted all of a sudden. His shoulders slouched as if he was bearing the weight of his forty years and Katniss might have felt a little more sorry for him if her sister hadn’t been kidnapped by vampires. He passed a hand over his face, let it linger in front of his mouth for a second and then dropped it on the wooden table. “The tree is on top of a Hellmouth.”

“A Hellmouth.” Katniss repeated flatly.

“The name’s pretty self-explanatory, really.” her Watcher winced. “It’s a supernatural hot spot. Attracts all kind of nasty things… It’s a place where barriers between dimensions are thin. To put it more simply… It’s…”

“A hole to hell.” she finished.

“If you open it.” he temporized. “But it’s not open now and nobody’s opening it. That would take rituals, time and more juice than one vampire alone can have.” He stared at the journal in his hand and then shook his head. “Like I said… It attracts evil. And it’s in the middle of a flat land where she will see you coming.”

“She probably just wants to brag about having killed the Slayer on top of the hole to hell.” she scowled.

“She ain’t gonna kill you, Katniss.” he spat. “You ain’t dying today.”

“Changed your tune quickly.” she sneered. “Yesterday you were all about reminding me that I was five seconds away from biting the dust.” She crumpled the note in her fist and tossed it back on the table. “We need to _do_ something.”

“How about finding them _now_?” Peeta suggested. “I mean… They can’t go out during the day, right? So they must be hiding somewhere…”

“And _where_ do you want us to look?” she snapped. “You want us to walk around at random until we find them? Vampires don’t _really_ sleep in coffins, Peeta.”

Haymitch slammed his hand on the table, the sudden noise was enough to make them both jump.

“Stop fighting.” he growled. “You’re giving me a headache.” He was studying Peeta with curiosity though. “The boy’s idea ain’t bad, sweetheart… If we could find them… It would still be a long shot. You dusted a few of her minions but we know she at least still has that kid with her…”

“Cato.” Katniss reminded him. “And he’s going to be a problem too. He’s a more experienced fighter than I am.”

“I can take care of Cato.” Peeta said. “I’m used to fighting with him at practice.”

“You’re not coming.” she declared and then tossed her hands in the air in frustration. “And we’ve got no place to go anyway. We don’t know where they are.”

“If she’s as old and powerful as you say… She’s probably an arrogant one too. They always are…” Haymitch muttered thoughtfully. He seemed to have come to a decision and hauled himself to his feet. “Okay. New plan. Boy, you keep on trying to figure out who the vampire is. Girl, grab some weapons, we’re taking a field trip.”

“A field trip.” she spat.

“Yeah.” he confirmed, checking that his hunting knife was at the small of his back. “I’m gonna teach you how to beat up informants.”

A little bit of violence actually didn’t sound that bad at that second so she followed him out the door.

And, surprise of surprises, it turned out he could _actually_ drive a bike.

°O°O°O°O°O°

Haymitch pushed the bike harder than he had in a long time, harder than was probably wise given that he had only had a couple of mouthfuls of liquor in the last twenty-four hours and that he could already feel the telltale signs of withdrawals. He didn’t like riding with a passenger either, they usually were an hindrance and Katniss was no exception. She clung to his waist but didn’t have the experience needed to move with him when he took sharp turns or tried to move his body along with the bike to gain speed.

The fact that he was maneuvering in narrow alleys wasn’t helping either.

Eventually, he stopped the bike in front of a nondescript door and Katniss hopped down and immediately scowled when she spotted the decrepit sign hanging next to the door by only one hinge.

“ _Ripper’s Bar_?” She was already getting angry. “We have better things to do than getting you a fix, Haymitch!”

He rolled his eyes, trying to keep a lid on his own temper because hers was grating on his nerves. He grabbed the cutlass he had stashed in the side saddle and clenched and unclenched his fist around the hilt a few times. His grip wasn’t as steady as he would have liked.

“It’s a demon bar.” he grumbled. “Keep your bow ready, be your usual charming self and let me do the talking.” Katniss’s scowl only deepened and he snorted. “Yeah, just like that. Anyone ever told you you’ve got as much charm as a dead slug?” And with that parting shot, he headed to the door, only pausing long enough to survey the dark alley one last time. It didn’t look so frightening in plain day but it didn’t mean nobody was lurking in the shadows. “Anyone so much as _touches_ that bike and that’s the last thing they’re ever gonna do.”

Something receded in the shadows. Wise choice. He might still have got some intimidation left in him after all.

A little bell jingled when he pushed the door open and, in the very real cliché of every cowboy movie that ever existed, a hush fell on the bar. Next to him, he heard Katniss suck in a breath when she took in the collection of patrons. Demons, a couple of vampires, one or two regular humans…

“Well, ain’t you a jolly bunch.” he mocked, loud enough to be heard in the whole bar.

“So the rumors _are_ true. Abernathy’s back in town.” the old woman behind the bar spat out with venom. To be fair, he hadn’t expected Ripper to be happy to see him again. He was pretty sure he had left a huge tab the last time he had skipped town.

She could have passed for a human if she had tried but the little bumps on her forehead betrayed her half-bred origins.

She reached for something under the counter and, before he could react, Katniss had let loose an arrow. It had been a warning shot. The mirror behind the bar, the one quite a few people in there didn’t reflect into, shattered.

“Easy, sweetheart…” he chuckled. “She only got the one arm now… Would be a shame to take off the only one left, yeah?” He glanced around, most of the demons in there were inoffensive and were working hard on looking as harmless as possible. The vampires though, they would try to bolt before long. “Slayer’s a little cranky so it’s probably best if everyone sits tight. Best to avoid misunderstandings.”

He grabbed one of the stools and slammed his cutlass on the counter, glaring at the old woman. “How about you give me a whiskey. With some information.”

Katniss remained standing next to him, watching the group of vampires with attention. Either she had noticed how nervous they looked or she had identified the biggest threat in the room.

“The last Slayer you brought here cut my arm off.” Ripper growled.

“You sold her bad intel.” Haymitch shrugged. “Just be happy she didn’t take off your head.” He nodded at Katniss. “Should warn you this one ain’t half as nice as Donner was. She’s hitching to kill you, I can tell. Ain’t you, sweetheart?”

Katniss didn’t answer but she drummed her fingers on her bow a little impatiently. There wasn’t a demon in that bar who wasn’t staring at those drumming fingers.

“Your mother was decent.” Ripper hissed. “Doing business with her was…”

“You leave my mother where she is.” he cut her off, ignoring Katniss’ curious look. “I’m still waiting for that whiskey. The fine stuff, please.”

He played with the cutlass the whole time it took her to pour him a glass and slide it on the counter. He took an unhurried sip, pretending he couldn’t tell his Slayer’s temper was close to blowing out. She was fed up with his antics, he could feel it, but he was playing a long game here. _Ripper’s_ was a good place to find information and beating everyone up every time was less effective than making it worth the old woman’s time.

Ripper had never been a very patient woman anyway.

“What do you want?” the half-demon asked after only a handful of seconds, eyeing Katniss with open distrust. “You know I don’t sell out my customers. Bad for business.”

She had sold out her customers plenty of times before but never in front of an audience. She hadn’t stayed alive that long by being stupid.

He finished his whiskey in a long mouthful, the familiar sense of calm falling over him when the alcohol settled in his stomach.

“We’re looking for a vamp.” he told her. “Blond. Pretty. Sniffing around the Hellmouth…”

There was some shuffling over the vampires corner. Katniss’ bow turned in that direction.

Ripper had noticed too, she was watching them, disgust and anger battling on her face, probably because she knew what would follow. “She’s never been in here but I’ve heard stuff, yeah. No chance you can take it outside? It’s just… I’ve _just_ had the interior redone.”

“You haven’t bought anything new in this bar in thirty years.” he mocked.

“Half a life for you, a blink for me.” the woman deadpanned.

And then, predictably, the vampires bolted.

He didn’t bother standing up. He had seen Katniss shoot before, after all.

Three arrows found hearts easily and dust rose, hiding her from view for a moment. When it settled down, she had the fourth vampire pinned down on the floor, a hand around his throat. And she was scorning at him.

“Where’s my sister?” she hissed.

The vampire’s eyes almost bulged out of his skull, Haymitch noted with some amusement, gesturing at Ripper to pour him another drink.

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” the vampire shouted in a panic. Katniss pulled a stake out and Haymitch almost smirked at how frightened the vampire looked. He glanced around the bar, pleased to notice most of the demons looked nervous and scared. That was good. Good publicity. The demonic population of the Seam would be less inclined to try to add a Slayer to their trophy collection if they were afraid of her. The vampire meanwhile tried to struggle free. “I know the blond chick! I know the blond chick! She’s been recruiting! She wants to get the town under control or something!”

“Don’t they always.” Haymitch sighed, exchanging a knowing look with Ripper who had always been pretty neutral when it came down to _good_ versus _evil_. It had taken him a long time to learn not all demons wanted to unleash the fires of hell on Earth. Some were half-human, some were harmless, some just wanted to survive or live normal lives…

“Where is she?” Katniss snarled.

“She… She is holing up at the old cabin in the woods! The one not too far from the lake!” the vampire spilled. “She’s trying to keep a low profile until the others get here! She’s just scouting! Making sure they can take over the town!”

“What others?” Haymitch frowned. _Others_ didn’t sound good.

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” the vampire claimed when Katniss pressed the stake a little harder over his heart. “She never calls them by name! She keeps saying when they’re here the town will be ours! That’s all!”

“Does _she_ have a name?” Katniss hissed.

“Cashmere.” the vampire said immediately. “She goes by _Cashmere_. That’s all I know. Now, you’re gonna let me go, right?”

“Sorry.” Katniss answered and then there was nothing but another cloud of dust. She wiped her hands on her pants and picked up her bow before standing up. “Cashmere. Does that ring any bell?”

Haymitch took a minute to think but eventually had to admit defeat. “I don’t know. Ripper, anything to add?”

The old woman pursed her lips in displeasure but shrugged. “Heard she wants to open the Hellmouth.”

“Of course she does.” he sighed, sliding off the stool and on his feet. “Put the whiskey on my tab.”

“The one you never pay when you skip town?” Ripper deadpanned.

“Hey, we didn’t destroy your bar, this time.” he pointed out. “Cut me some slack.”

He nudged Katniss toward the door but she was staring at a group of demons huddled around one of the tables. They were watching her like she was the devil incarnate. To them, she probably was. Slayers were legends in the demonic world. The monster’s very own bogeyman.

“What about them?” she asked.

“Pretty much harmless.” he commented, loud enough to be overheard. “As long as they don’t start killing people, I say we leave them be.”

“We don’t want any trouble!” one of them said quickly. A woman that would have looked perfectly human if her skin hadn’t been a deep green.

Katniss didn’t look convinced but she shrugged. “Fine. Let’s go find, Prim.”

He followed her outside and waited until the door to the bar had swung shut before informing her they _weren’t_ going to rush to a cabin in the woods without any sort of preparation.

“You can _bitch_ all you want. I want a solid plan first.” he cut her off mid-rant. He knew she wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy either. “There’s plenty of daylight left. We go back home, we stock up on weapons and we stop to _think_ for _more_ than a _fucking_ minute.”

“I’m not spending another hour looking at those books.” she hissed.

“We go home, we grab weapons, we figure out some sort of strategy and then we go get your sister.” he promised. “We play it _smart_ , kid.”

As it turned out, it was asking her a lot.

By the time he stopped the bike in front of his house, he could practically feel the restlessness coming out of her in waves. She was like an animal on the hunt. She wouldn’t sit down, she wouldn’t drink or eat anything, she wouldn’t even stop gathering the weapons she wanted to bring while he summed up what they had found for the boy who had still been slaving over the journals when they had showed up.

“Here’s the plan.” Katniss declared, cutting Haymitch off in the middle of his explanations. “I kick the door down and I kill as many as I can while you get Prim as far away from the literal hell hole as you can take her.”

Haymitch flashed his best sarcastic smile. “And _that’s_ why nobody let’s you make the plans, sweetheart. That Cashmere ain’t your regular vamp, you said. She’ll be on you before you can say _Slayer_.”

Not that she was listening to him.

“We’re going to need to borrow your car.” she told Peeta, shouldering on her quiver and her bow before turning to Haymitch. “Go grab as many of your bottles of liquor as you can find. It shouldn’t be _that_ difficult.”

Haymitch lifted his eyebrows. “Not that I don’t share the sentiment but it ain’t the best time to start drinking, sweetheart…”

“I don’t want to drink it.” she snapped. “Once you take Prim out, we’re going to burn that cabin down to the ground. And the woods with it if I have to.” She studied Peeta for a second. “You still want to help?”

“Yes.” the boy answered immediately.

“Do you think you can handle throwing a few Molotov cocktails?” she insisted.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Haymitch protested, knocking on the table to get her attention. “We _ain’t_ taking the boy with us. Innocents get _hurt_ in the crossfire. Research is fine if he wants to help but that’s as far as I’m letting it go.”

Her gaze almost _glided_ over him. She wasn’t even _listening_. She was standing a little straighter, her chin _that_ little bit higher, her shoulders square…

Gone was the girl he had met two weeks earlier.

In her place stood a Slayer.           

_The_ Slayer.

And, _shit_ , if it didn’t terrified him senseless.

She was going to _die_. They _always_ died.

And she was still wearing that _fucking_ pin on her chest… 

“It’s alright, Mr Abernathy.” Peeta said firmly. “I _want_ to help.”

“You’re gonna get yourself _killed_.” he snarled, standing up so brutally his chair clattered to the floor. “Humans aren’t equipped to fight vampires.”

“ _You_ ’re human.” Katniss pointed out.

“I’m a _Watcher_.” he countered.

“Then _watch_.” she spat. “You get Prim out and then you make sure Peeta doesn’t get hurt.”

“I’ll get your sister out, then the boy can drive her away _. I_ ’ll handle the cocktails.” he argued.

They glared at each other up until she averted her eyes with a scorn. “Your hands are shaking, you won’t be able to aim. You’re more useful protecting Prim. Peeta will be outside in the sun where no vampire can grab him. He’s coming because I _need_ him. You wanted a plan, I’ve given you one. So are you with me or not?”

_It wasn’t a bad plan._

It wasn’t a bad plan but she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t…

“I’m your Watcher, sweetheart.” he whispered. “That ain’t _ever_ gonna be a question.”

Katniss nodded at him and then licked her lips. “Then we have a plan.”

“Well, then…” Peeta grinned, standing up. “Avengers assemble.”

Young people had a way of making him feel old but he was glad Katniss looked as puzzled as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems they have a battle plan! But will it go right or wrong? Did you enjoy Ripper's bar? Do you have a theory as to Cashmere's big plan? Let me know your thoughts, I live for feedback!


	7. Chapter 7

Haymitch’s fingers were restlessly drumming on the wheel and it was driving Katniss crazy.

Peeta caught her eyes and looked away fast but it was enough for her to know he shared the sentiment. They were both in the backseat of his SUV, working on cramming pieces of clothes into bottles of liquor. They didn’t know how much they would need so they had opted for bringing as many as possible just to be on the safe side.

Katniss tore up strips of cloth and Peeta thrust them into the bottles. They had a good rhythm going on.

The car was rushing past the meadow when their hands accidentally brushed. Katniss didn’t pay it any attention but Peeta cleared his throat.

“Everything will be fine.” he promised, grabbing her hand with a bit more purpose. “We’ll get Prim back.”

She caught Haymitch glancing in the rear-view mirror but she didn’t understand why he was smirking like that so she ignored him.

She didn’t let herself think about Prim too much because she would have gone crazy with worry if she had. She had to believe the plan would work.

“You will be safe.” she answered, squeezing his hand. “Just remember the plan. I distract them while Haymitch gets Prim out. The moment they’re out, you start tossing.”

“And then you get out.” he added. “Right?”

“I get out once I’m sure the _bitch_ is dead.” she corrected, taking her hand back to give him another piece of cloth.

Haymitch didn’t look happy with that either but he didn’t say anything. Probably because there wasn’t much to say.

Cashmere needed to go down. Not only because she had gone after her sister but because they couldn’t let her try to open the Hellmouth. He might not have had time to give a full lecture on it but she wasn’t dense enough to not understand it was the kind of mouth that was better left _closed_.

“Katniss…” Peeta breathed out with entirely too much… She wasn’t sure _what_ it was but she found she couldn’t look at him anymore. Something was gripping her heart and squeezing it tight. It was confusing and she didn’t have time for _confusing_ right now.

Fortunately, that was also the moment Haymitch stopped the car, saving her from the odd tension.

“That’s as far as we go with the truck.” he announced. “We need to finish on foot. You’re sure you know where the cabin is?”

She didn’t even bother offering an answer. An old cabin next to the lake deep in the woods… There weren’t _many_ and she and Gale had found that one out years ago. They had used it as a hiding place once or twice even. It was a good spot when you wanted to hide from the world. There were only two empty rooms full of dust – and, apparently, vampires.

She took the lead, carrying as many bottle as she could. Haymitch and Peeta followed closely behind her and she couldn’t help but cringe at how loud they were being. Haymitch, at least, was making an effort but Peeta was hopeless. Animals could hear them coming from miles away. It was a good thing they hadn’t waited until nightfall to attack.

As it was, they reached the cabin without any trouble at all and they all flattened on their bellies at the edge of the clearing to study their surroundings. The cabin was entirely made of planks and was situated on the short amount of flat land between the shore of the lake and the border of the trees. A little too close to the forest for what they had in mind, maybe.

“Try not to start a forest fire.” she advised. 

“So… No pressure, right?” Peeta joked.

The windows of the cabin were boarded. She wondered if vampires slept during the day or if there was one of them on watch… Most of the ones she had met tended to be stupid so she hoped the ones inside would prove to be of the same variety.

She made sure her bow was ready to use and then she turned toward Haymitch. He had a hard look on his face and she wondered if he would mourn her if she died that day. She hadn’t gotten the feeling he was really pleased to be her Watcher. He had treated the whole thing as a chore since the very beginning. How had he put it again?

_I’ve been sent to help you until you kick the bucket and someone other than me draws the lucky ticket to coach the next dead girl to be._

“Don’t look so glum, Haymitch.” she taunted. “Look on the bright side. If I get myself killed you can go back to drinking full time.”

“I don’t drink full time.” he denied and then rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah, I drink full time but I also freelance as a demon hunter when I don’t have to play babysitter to arrogant little girls who think they know better than everyone else just because fate flipped them the finger.”

“See?” she snorted. “You’ll be happier when I’m dead.”

“You _are_ a strangely dislikable person.” he deadpanned and then softened a little. “But you do have your virtues. Try not to get killed so soon. It’d look bad on my resume.”

“Fair enough.” She smiled. “Try not to get killed either. If you’re the best Watcher they’ve got, I’m scared of who they’re going to send next.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt your weird bonding moment but if _nobody_ could get killed, it would be _great_.”  Peeta cut in.

“You be careful, boy.” Haymitch ordered sternly. “Stay out of troubles.”

“Okay.” Katniss took a deep breath. “Haymitch? One last advice?”

“Stay alive.” he retorted without hesitation.

It was a good one, she decided.

And then she was running.

Haymitch was behind her to her left, much slower than she was. She brought the door down with a powerful kick and she didn’t wait for the surprised scream inside to register. There were three vampires in that room, two of them were already smoking from the sunlight. She shot two arrows and they burst into dust, the third one moved at the last moment and she missed the heart. She threw her leg out and sent him flying just when Cato, Cashmere and another of her minions rushed out of the other room, stopping short of the long stripe of light that stretched between her part of the room and theirs.

Another well launched arrow took care of Cato but it also cost her the advantage. The vampire she had missed earlier jumped on her from the side. Her bow clattered to the ground and she fought him out, trying to pull out her stake.

“Go close the door, you idiot!” Cashmere ordered to the other minion.

Katniss wasn’t sure what happened next. She thought Haymitch must have made his surprise entrance because there were fighting noises and when she risked a peek, she saw her Watcher slamming a stake through the vampire chest.

It left Cashmere between him and the other room where Prim was presumably hidden…

“Wanna dance, lady?” he taunted, falling into a fighting stance he had tried – and mostly failed – to teach her. “Ain’t much into blondes but for you I’m gonna make an exception…”

_That_ wasn’t the plan at all.

Her vampire was stubbornly refusing to die - well, to die _for good_. They traded blows and she herded him toward the streak of sunlight but it was a slow process and Haymitch wasn’t fairing well. He had rushed on Cashmere with a war cry and ended up hitting the wall when she swept him off with her arm like an annoying fly. He slid down to the floor and Cashmere lifted him back up by his collar. Her features morphing into her demon face, she opened her mouth...

Katniss couldn’t wait anymore. She leaped away from her opponent and tackled the blond vampire. Haymitch fell back down with a _thud_.

“Get Prim and get out!” she ordered, herding the two vampires away from him.

Cashmere snarled. “I was going to kill you quickly but now I’m going to make it _last_. I really don’t need a Slayer poking in my business…”

Katniss wasn’t aware of much past that point. The fight took her whole focus. She took more hits than she gave and she was relying on instinct more than on training. She did glimpse Haymitch rushing back out of the cabin, her sister tossed over his shoulder, but she couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead or injured or…

Cashmere’s foot sent her flying across the room. She rolled in the dust and came back in a crouch. She spotted her bow a few feet away and leapt in that direction just as the second vampire tried to grab her. A lucky backward hit with her elbow hurled him directly into the narrow pool of sunlight that separated the main room of the cabin in two. He burst into flames and, at first, she thought he was responsible for the sudden explosion.

Then, of course, she realized Peeta must have began the next phase of the plan.

And it was working a little _too_ well.

Flames were catching quickly. Smoke burnt her throat and Katniss dashed toward the front door but Cashmere blocked her path, far much quicker and deadlier than anything else she had ever seen. Far more dangerous than the fire that was raining down on the cabin roof, thanks to Haymitch’s liquor stash.

“You think you can stop us?” Cashmere hissed, baring her fangs. “When the others will be here, you will regret this. They will bring _Him_ back. _He_ will rise and may the odds be in your favor then!”

The flames were running up the walls now. The cabin was turning into a deadly trap.

The heat was unbearable, Katniss couldn’t help small coughs. Her eyes were watery. She nocked an arrow and let it loose, not entirely surprised when Cashmere simply sidestepped it. The vampire looked _mad_ in the dancing light of the surrounding fire. The flames tossed changing shadows on her skin, her yellow eyes seemed to _glow_ …

“You will _all_ burn.” the vampire laughed.

“If we burn…” Katniss retorted, the effect a little lost in the coughing fit. “You burn with us.”  

She needed to get out and _now_ , the ceiling was about to collapse. Cashmere was blocking her way to the door so she needed another way out. She did the only thing she could think of: she dropped her bow, took a long-run and cannonballed into the wall where the flames were the thickest, shoulder first.

If the wood was as rotten as it had looked, she would be fine.

If it was solid, she was done for.

It turned out that bursting through a wooden wall on fire was _painful..._ But she did go _through_. She landed badly but rolled with it anyway, ending up on her back in the grass, gulping down air only to cough it out.

“Katniss!” Haymitch called and, before she could try to even think about moving, he was pulling her up. All she could do was try to put one foot in front of the other while he dragged her away from the cabin that was quickly being swallowed by the flames. She heard Cashmere scream but then there was only the sounds of her own blood throbbing in her ears and her Watcher’s panting.

He only slowed down once they were in the middle of the woods and only because he tripped on a root. Katniss seized the opportunity to sit down for a second even if she knew they should keep moving because forest fires could move quickly.

“Prim?” she asked once she managed to get her parched mouth to form a coherent sound.

“She’s alright. I told the boy to get her to the car and to call the fire station.” he explained, offering her a hand. When she simply ignored it, he waved it in front of her face until she let him haul her up again. “You sure like the old school method. _Girl on fire_.”

“Don’t call me that…” she grumbled and then coughed some more.

“We need to get you to the hospital.” he commented and he sounded _worried_.

“I’m fine.” she lied.

“Sure, you are.” he humored her, forcing her good arm around his shoulders so he could support her better. With their height difference, it probably looked ridiculous. It certainly wasn’t very efficient.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get a better Slayer.” she muttered, as they were nearing the car. Her eyelids were drooping, her chest felt very tight and she was pretty sure something was very wrong with her shoulder this time.

He tightened his hold on her. “What?”

“You were disappointed…” she mumbled. “I’m not as good as your other ones…”

“No. _Fuck_ , sweetheart… _No_.” he breathed out. “You’ve got to understand… My Slayers… They all ended up tributes in a _fucking_ hopeless war… They were heroes. And _so are you_. And you _ain’t_ dying on me right now so quit talking like you are.” He was almost completely carrying her by now and she could see the rear-end of Peeta’s truck. “You’ll be a great Slayer, Katniss. Thing is… I’m a bitter old drunk. I wasn’t sure  I had it in me to play mentor one more time, that’s all.”

She didn’t ask if he had come to a decision on that point.

Some things were better left unsaid.

“Katniss!”

She caught a glimpse of blond disheveled hair and then her sister was crashing against her and Haymitch, making them both lose their balance.

She blinked and she was lying on the ground, Prim’s face hovering over her.

“Little duck…” she whispered but it didn’t sound very coherent to her own ears.

She blinked again and Prim was gone. There was only the blue sky above and clouds that looked like the bird on the pin Madge had given her.

“Get her in the car. She needs a doctor and fast.” Haymitch was saying.

She blinked and she was cradled against someone’s chest. She was in a moving car. It was going fast. Prim’s frightened face looked back at her from the passenger front seat. A hand brushed her hair away from her face.

“Hold on.” Peeta’s voice murmured in her ear. “Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.”

She smelt the appetizing scent of bread just taken out of the oven. It was in her head, she thought, but it made her feel safe. _Happy_. Nothing bad could happen if there was hot bread nearby.

“Katniss. Stay awake.” he urged. “Haymitch, go faster.”

She let her head roll on his shoulder and she closed her eyes.

The last thing she saw was Prim’s lips forming her name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prim is aliiiiive! That wasn't a given XD Will Katniss make it? Did you like her attempt at being heroic? Let me know your thoughts!


	8. Chapter 8

“Into each generation a Slayer is born.” Haymitch mocked. “One girl in  all the world. Ain’t I just lucky it had to be _you_.”

That girl could have won scorn competitions.

She looked small standing there on his porch, with her arm in a sling and half a dozen burns of various seriousness all over her body, but less small than she had when he had met her. She was standing taller and a few weeks of eating well had softened her malnourished aspect. His grey eyes lingered on the wounds he could see, telling himself it could have been worse.

She could have been dead.

With her Slayer healing powers, she would be completely fine in a week at most. More likely, she wouldn’t feel the need for the sling in a couple of days.

_He_ would have to contend with the few stitches on his forehead a while longer on the other hand and that was without mentioning the bruises and scrapes all over his body. He was getting too old for this _shit_.

Much too old.

He stepped aside to let her in, trying not to think about those endless minutes in the hospital waiting room where he had thought he had lost her. He had paced the length of the room while Peeta and Prim sat on uncomfortable plastic chairs, clinging to each other’s hands and staring up at him as if he held all the answers in the universe, regularly asking him if he thought she would be alright.

They had been lucky, considering.

“How’s your sister?” he asked, turning away to lead her inside the house.

He hadn’t been expecting the hug but he embraced her back by reflex. From the stiffness of her body, he supposed her impulse had surprised herself too. Then she relaxed and he propped his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes, willing his treacherous heart to stop beating so hard.

She was here.

She was fine.

They had made it. They had won.

She let him go as quickly as she had grabbed him and headed straight to the kitchen without looking back, her dark braid swaying between her shoulder blades. Her hair was a little singed too.

“She still has nightmares.” she answered belatedly. “But she’s going to be alright, I think. She thinks it’s awesome I can do so much good and save people.”

The hug he supposed was going to remain non-addressed, which was just as well. He didn’t deal well with feelings and he couldn’t really keep on pretending he didn’t care about her now. He wasn’t sure who he had been kidding. He had always been going to care. She was a kid and she was his responsibility now and, if that wasn’t enough – and it hadn’t always been – he saw too much of himself in her.

“Most people do.” He shrugged, following her into the kitchen and going back to sit on the chair he had been occupying before she had knocked on the door. The table was a mess of sticky glasses, Watcher journals that _really_ should have been handled with more care and half scribbled notes.

“Didn’t take you long to get your collection back.” she mocked, nodding at the brand new clutter of bottles on the kitchen counter.

“What can I say…” he snorted, wrapping his hand around the tepid glass he had poured himself earlier. “When I think about all the booze we wasted in those woods, it makes me sad.” He hadn’t been expecting her or he might have kept his consumption to a minimum though. She had been released from the hospital two days earlier and he had told her to take the rest of the week to rest. He had even told her not to bother with school unless she wanted to, that he would take care of it since her mother had never made an appearance at the hospital and _he_ had been left to answer insurance questions he had no clue about. He took a sip of whiskey and let the familiar burn wash down his throat. “I’ve got a deal for you. Don’t interfere with my drinking and I’ll stay sober enough to help you.”

She watched him with an unreadable expression on her face before averting her eyes and dragging back one of the kitchen chair. “You mean help me by rushing at a vampire who could have killed you with a  snap of her fingers?”

“Yeah… Maybe I shouldn’t have sampled the vodka the kid used for the Molotov cocktails.” he lied. And badly.

She tugged one of the leather-bound journals toward her but didn’t open it. She just played with a loosed piece of leather and, really, he should have stopped her. Those things were _priceless_.

“What you said in the woods about your other Slayers…” she hesitated, her voice trailing off.

“I’m with you.” he offered. “I’ve got your back. Until the end.”

“Yours or mine?” she scoffed and then waved her hand to dismiss that. Her tone was serious, everything about her was serious. “What I mean is… You said they were _tributes in a hopeless war…_ I’m not going to be some martyr, Haymitch. I have one priority and one priority only: Prim. She’s going to come before everything else and if it ever comes to a choice between her and other people…”

Again her sentence trailed off.

He studied her with a smirk, more amused than angry. He _should_ have been angry probably. Told her off. After all, the Slayer handbook was pretty clear about the sacred duties and what not.

“You know, Slayers are usually isolated.” he remarked thoughtfully. “No friends, no family… They live alone and die alone.”

“Why?” she frowned.

“Because it makes them easier for the Council to control.” He made a face. “Slayers are only _weapons_ to them. Never forget that.”

Confusion flashed on her face. “Don’t _you_ work for the Council?”

“I’m on their payroll and I’m useful so they keep me around but we don’t always see eye to eye.” he admitted.  “Just… Be careful if you ever have to deal with them without me, that’s all.”

“You’re my Watcher.” she pointed out. “Why would I have to deal with them without you?”

He sighed and slouched a little in his seat, making his whiskey twirl gently at the bottom of the glass. “Cause I’ve got a feeling they’re playing a long game and they assigned you to me for a reason.”

Katniss was growing irritated and impatient, probably frustrated to have to force every word out of his mouth. “What reason?”

“I don’t know.” he honestly answered. “I called Coin to see if she knew who Cashmere was or who those _others_ are… She claimed she’d put the resources of the Council on the search but I had a feeling she was hiding something.”

He had hypothesis but none of them were good. _None_ of them.

“What about the man they’re supposed to be bringing back?” Katniss reminded him. “Do you know who _he_ could be?”

A chill ran down his spine and he downed the rest of his glass of whiskey in one quick motion, not even trying to resist the urge to pour himself another one.

“Coriolanus Snow.” The name echoed strangely in the kitchen, almost as if it was bouncing back from the past. How many times had he said or heard that name in this very kitchen? He had grown up with that name, had lived _all_ his life with that name hanging over his head like a _fucking_ Damocles sword… “He was a Master.”

Understanding dawned on Katniss’ face. “The one who was banished to a hell dimension. So _that_ ’s why Ripper said Cashmere was talking about opening the Hellmouth.”

“Sounds likely.” he agreed and then rubbed is face with the back of his hand, careful not to tip the glass of whiskey that was dangling from his fingers. “We can’t let _anyone_ bring that vampire back, sweetheart. He was… He was a _monster_ like you can’t even imagine. A lot of good people died so we could defeat him.”

The memories were seared in his mind and he couldn’t stop replaying them on a loop. He had _never_ been able to stop, not even with all the alcohol in the world. And now that he was back in _this_ town...

He startled when she placed her hand on his forearm. She looked worried.

“But you _did_ defeat him.” she pointed out.

_But at what cost?_

He wasn’t sure how long he had spaced out in his own head. He stood up and opened the window because the kitchen suddenly felt suffocating. Hell, who was he kidding? This whole house was suffocating. He should have just sold the thing out after Maysilee and be done but he had never been able to completely cut himself off the Seam. He wondered if it had been fate after all.

He had grown up in this house. He had watched his mother die in this house. He had watched his little brother turn to dust in this house. He had lost the only girl he had ever really loved in this house. He had trained his first Slayer in this house. He had planned Snow’s demise in this house.

After Snow had been banished… After he had buried Maysilee… After he had packed everything he could carry and left for good…

He should have sold the house then but maybe a part of him had always known it wasn’t over. Maybe that was why he had accepted the assignment to a new Slayer even though he and the Council had been on _very_ rocky terms since Annie’s death.

Then again, he had never refused taking a Slayer on before.

He had sworn he was done being a Watcher after Maysilee. Three dead Slayers, one of them his own, and he had sworn he was done. He had disappeared for two years – or at least, he liked to think he had disappeared but he knew the Council had probably been keeping tabs even then. Two years spent hunting down demons and then, out of the blue one day, a phone call. He had resisted. For three days, he had resisted.

And then he had packed up and he had gone to San Francisco to meet Alina Graves who was seventeen and out of her depths. 

And when she had died, he had cursed and sworn again that he was out.

But when they had called him with Cecelia’s address, a couple of years after that, he had still gone.

At that point, he had become the go-to Watcher for Slayers who hadn’t been raised and trained under the Council’s tutelage. Coin said he had a gift for rogues. The Council’s president refused to accept he wanted _out_ , he was too useful.

After Cecelia, there had been Johanna who had been so full of hatred and rage and who had left nothing behind her but a broken Watcher and a bike he was still keeping an almost religious care of.

And then, years after Johanna, Annie. And Annie, in many ways, had been the straw that had broken the camel back. Because Annie hadn’t been able to handle the pressure and she had gone insane. Because the Council had sent Finnick and Haymitch was pretty certain, although they had never discussed it, that it had been to determine if the situation had been salvageable or not. Because they would have _killed_ her eventually if she hadn’t gotten herself killed first. Coin had no use for soldiers who couldn’t do their job, not when it was so easy to replace her with another one.

He had told himself he was _really_ out then. He had sent a resignation letter and everything – well, it had consisted of a stained piece of a paper with a “ _fuck you”_ on it but he was pretty sure Coin had gotten the gist.

It was after Annie that the drinking had really gotten out of hand. It had always been more or less of an issue, of course, but after Annie he had stopped caring enough to try and get a lid on the problem. He had enjoyed some time of demon hunting and binge drinking with Chaff abroad for a while right up until he had received a package with a brand new cell phone, a plane ticket and an address. He had called the only number programmed into the phone and Coin had told him she had a new Slayer for him if he wanted her.

He hadn’t wanted her.

He had never wanted them.

Twenty years and five dead Slayers…

And he still hadn’t learned to stay away. Because, regardless of what he wanted, they needed help and it was a help he could give.

There were different sort of callings in this life. He had learned that the hard way. He had been born in that world of demons and heroic women and he could never turn his back on it, never turn his back on _a Slayer_ in need because his mother had been one and the love of his life had been one and he owned it to the five girls he had been sworn to protect and failed to save.

“Haymitch.” Katniss said with the same touch of impatience as always.

He blinked and the backyard, outside the window, stopped being blurry.

He needed to stop freaking out and _focus_. This wasn’t about him or the people Snow had taken from him.

“It was luck we managed to trap him at all.” he finally explained, facing her again. “Maysilee was fighting him, distracting him while the warlock worked on the ritual… She died too soon. He ripped her throat out. He turned on us so I jumped in.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “You _fought_ a Master?”

She sounded incredulous and he couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t exactly been useful against Cashmere. But he had been different twenty years ago. He had been young and cocky and so sure he could handle himself against _anything_ … And, of course, he had been consumed with his hatred for Snow. He had known he might get killed when he had stood in the vampire’s path but he had also known he might distract him long enough for the ritual to work. He hadn’t feared death, then. He would have welcomed it.

“We had a history, Snow and I.” he snorted. And then he shook his head because he could see the questions already forming on her lips. “Story for another day, yeah? Suffice to say… We don’t want him free.”

She looked at him long and hard and then she accepted that with a nod.

She was still distractedly toying with the journal. “Do I get a bonus for killing a crazy old vampire?”

“Need money?” he asked, already trying to remember how much cash he had in his wallet. Not much, he thought, but they could make a trip to an ATM. Katniss only ever spent the money on food or on utilities. He had never seen a kid who had her priorities so straight – well, except himself.

“I lost my bow in the fire.” There was a pout at the corner of her mouth that made her look like a very sulky child.

“I’ll buy you a new one.” he dismissed.

He had expected her to protest and scream about how she didn’t need charity but she must have considered it part of his Watcher’s duties to make sure she was armed because she perked up instead. “I’m also going to need a new quiver. And arrows.”

“You don’t want a pony with that?” he deadpanned.

“No.” she replied with a small smile. “But a spare helmet for the bike would be great.”

He rolled his eyes but aggressively fought his own smile. It wouldn’t do to let her know he had grown fond of her.

°O°O°O°O°O°

“So, we don’t know who the vampires who are coming are but we _do_ know we really don’t want them to free Snow.” Peeta summed up. His folded arms were propped on the small counter that separated the kitchen from the living-room. He looked completely at ease in the trailer despite the lack of space and how terribly cheap everything in it was when Katniss knew for certain he lived in a big house not too far from his parents’ bakery.  

She kept her eyes averted and focused on transferring the cupcakes he had brought from the pastry box onto a plate.

She wasn’t sure why he was even there at all. She never invited anyone home. The only person who had been coming and going to and from that trailer aside for the Everdeens was Gale and it was only because the Hawthornes lived in a similar trailer. As a rule, Katniss never let anyone in and it hadn’t been her idea to invite Peeta.

He had showed up half an hour earlier with a big smile, a box full of cupcakes and a bunch of DVDs. She had remained there dumbfounded but Prim had squealed and had ushered him in. Apparently, while she had been at the hospital, they had made plans to have some sort of _Harry Potter_ marathon – she had been informed _very_ seriously that the fact that the Everdeen girls hadn’t read or seen a _Harry Potter_ was unforgivable. Prim had looked happy about it so she hadn’t outwardly opposed the project. Besides, now he was there and he had brought food so it wasn’t like she could really kick him out.

Because she had no clue what else to talk about with him – and because it was the first thing he had asked once Prim had started tinkering with their old TV so they could watch the movies – she had summed up what he had missed.

And now she made sure to keep staring at the plate full of pretty cupcakes he had baked himself and to not look up at him. She also made sure to keep her voice low so her sister wouldn’t hear. “There’s no _we_. It’s not your problem.”

Peeta’s good mood seemed to deflate like a pierced balloon. Suddenly he looked a lot more ill-at-ease. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have showed up like that. It’s just Prim said it would be cool and… Do you want me to go?”

“No.” She frowned. “I just meant…” She glanced at her sister who was still busy and then chanced a look at him. “You don’t have to get involved in the Slaying business. It’s _dangerous_ and it’s _not_ your responsibility so…”

“What if I _want_ to get involved?” he cut her off.

She sighed, not sure how to answer that. Haymitch hadn’t told her how to handle that particular situation. Peeta’s knowledge of the real state of the world was something they had left up in the air. “Peeta…”

“Look, I don’t think I can go back to how it was before.” he interrupted again. “I can’t just pretend I don’t know all of that is happening, that _you_ ’re out there fighting vampires and demons _on your own_. You _shouldn’t_ have to be on your own. So if I can help… Doing research or… I’m not helpless, you know. I can fight. And we’re… _friends_ , right?”

That seemed like a trick question somehow.

But Peeta had followed her into danger to get her sister back. He had stayed with Prim at the hospital while Haymitch took care of the paperwork. He had taken care of her sister when she couldn’t and that… Well…

“Yeah.” she confirmed slowly, maybe a little carefully. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

Peeta shrugged, a smile back on his lips. “It’s settled then. Every superhero needs a sidekick.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a superhero.”

The way he watched her then… She couldn’t have put a word on it if she had tried. There was an intensity in his eyes, a tenderness too and… Her heart started racing in her chest.

“You are to me.” he argued in a whisper.

She wasn’t sure at which point they had gotten so close to each other. Sure, she had been leaning toward him because she didn’t want Prim to overhear even if she had been speaking low but… They were standing so close that she could see there were specks of green in his blue eyes.

_Green was her favorite color._

She didn’t know where the thought had come from but it jolted her out of the strange spell that had fallen on the room. She grabbed the plate full of cupcakes and headed to the living-room, hoping it didn’t look like she was running.

It _felt_ like she was running. She simply wasn’t sure from _what_.

But whatever it was… It scared her more than all the vampires in the world.

And given that a bunch of them were trying to bring back a monster bad enough to scare _Haymitch_ , it must have said something…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of the first episode! I hope you enjoyed it! The second episode in the series will start in two weeks! Don't miss it!

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know please!


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